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Charl Schwartzel was not even supposed to play the St. Jude Classic this week. Now, he might win the thing. Schwartzel, who came into the week having missed two of his last three cuts after finishing third at the 2017 Masters, shot 65-66 in the first two rounds at TPC Southwind to get to 9 under and with the 36-hole lead, tied with Sebastian Munoz and Chez Reavie.

Schwartzel, who has 12 birdies over his first 36 holes, tweeted earlier this week the he decided to play this event late in the hopes of honing his game for the U.S. Open. It's clearly working.

He is currently No. 1 in the field in strokes gained with the putter, which is where he said his focus was when it came to scoring.

"On this golf course you really have to do everything well," Schwartzel said on Thursday. "It shows your weakness pretty quickly, so if I drive it well, good iron shots and I think the putter is always the key to low scoring."

The former Masters champ can get as hot as anyone in the game when he's really dialed in. But after struggling with a nagging injury this spring, he's been frustrated with where his game is at.

"I've been struggling with my wrist so my swing's gone bad," Schwartzel said. "I'm just fixing it up, going back to just a few basics. Very minor things, but in this game it's all you need is really small, small feelings. I moved the ball a little bit back in the stance and it feels great."

The South African finished seventh at the U.S. Open at Chambers Bay two years ago and looks good so far in his prep for Erin Hills next week. He'll play the weekend as the 3-1 favorite, but he'll also have a little company.

Adam Scott and Brooks Koepka -- two nice sleepers (sort of) for next week -- got to 5 under on Friday, and Phil Mickelson barely trailed them at 4 under. Lefty will get the headlines on the weekend, though, as he's been in the top five in three of the last four tournaments here and is skipping next week's major to be at his daughter's graduation.

He shot a tasty 67 on Friday and looks primed for yet another run over the final 36 holes at this event.

"I would just say that this is a great golf tournament and I want to be ready to play, compete this week," Mickelson said on Thursday. "I think that I'll have a few weeks off so this is my last event. I want to put everything I have into this tournament. I want to fight hard and give myself a good chance on the weekend. I've been in contention the last three or four years, have not won it. I would love to win this tournament. It would be a special win for me."

It would also be one that would call attention to his move next week to skip the only major he needs for the career slam. Can you imagine? Mickelson wins this weekend for the first time since 2013 and has to miss next week's test for a graduation. It would be a tremendous (and hilarious) story that would put loads of pressure on his daughter's high school to switch graduation dates, which means we should all definitely be rooting for it to happen.