MEMPHIS, Tenn. (AP) — Jordan Spieth believes he's playing better golf and he finally got a score to show for it Thursday. He was bogey-free for a 5-under 65 that gave him a four-way share of the lead in the FedEx St. Jude Championship and boosted his hopes of extending his season.
Rocket Classic champion Michael Thorbjornsen, Jake Knapp, Michael Kim and Kurt Kitayama also opened with 65s in the sweltering heat at the TPC Southwind. Spieth and Kim are
outside the top 50 in the FedEx Cup who advance to the BMW Championship next week.
This is the second straight year Spieth, at No. 54 and winless in more than four years, has been on the bubble going into the postseason. He was at No. 48 a year ago and fell out of the top 50.
He said the difference is the way he feels he is playing, even though he is the only player from the top 70 who qualified who has yet to register a top 10 this year.
“I'm just in a very different place about the game of golf than I was the last couple seasons heading into this event,” Spieth said. “Again, if it’s going to work out, great. If it doesn’t, I know next year is going to be an awesome year for me. So it takes a lot of the stress off of this week.”
Kim is at No. 61 and likely would need to finish at least 11th to have a chance to move on.
But it's just one round, and it was crowded at the top. Seven players, including defending FedEx Cup champion Tommy Fleetwood, Hideki Matsuyama, Gary Woodland and Adam Scott — were at 66. Four others were another stroke back.
So much emphasis is on getting into the top 50 because that locks up all the $20 million signature events for next season. Spieth has been on the outside the last two years and knows what's on the line this week.
More than half the field, however, already is assured of heading to Bellerive in St. Louis for the BMW Championship. For the likes of Woodland and Scott — both just inside the top 30 — a good week could lock them up for the Tour Championship and a shot at playing for the FedEx Cup.
It all comes with a reward of getting in all the majors.
“My only feeling has been make the most of this week, then it's all upside for me,” Scott said. “There's so much to gain from a good week right now, not only for the remainder of this season. It’s possible to lock up a spot in the Tour Championship this week, but also what it does into next year, the signatures and all the majors.
“It sets me up for what can be a year on my terms, which will be nice.”
Scottie Scheffler, the No. 1 player in the world who has played the TPC Southwind more times (seven) without winning than any other course on the PGA Tour, opened with a 68. He was playing alongside Masters champion Rory McIlroy, who skipped last year knowing that his result had no bearing on his position the rest of the playoffs. McIlroy finished bogey-bogey-double bogey for 74.
The attention falls to Spieth, who won three legs of the career Grand Slam before his 24th birthday. But he had wrist surgery at the end of 2024 and has struggled to contend.
He opened with eight pars, finally got a putt to fall, and then ran off four birdies in a five-hole stretch, including a 40-footers on the par-3 14th. Mostly, no bogeys on the card was a plus.
“I just tried to come into this week and just be as patient, nonreactive as possible, dumb it down to try to win the golf tournament and not worry about anything else,” Spieth said. “Just knowing that I’m a lot better golfer than I’ve been in a very long time and continue to believe in that. If low scores come, they come. If they don’t, it doesn’t change the fact that I know that I’m better than I’ve been in a long time.”
Jackson Koivun, who won the 3M Open in his third start as a pro and narrowly got the final spot in the postseason at No. 70, played as a single and shot 71. The 69-man field is due to Daniel Berger choosing not to play, and there are no alternates.
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