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Matt Every has played in 21 PGA Tour events this season and earned just over $30,000 total. He has been cut 19 times and made the weekend just twice -- at the Arnold Palmer Invitational (which he has won twice) and Shell Houston Open.

He also missed seven of his last eight cuts in 2016. So of course, now he leads the FedEx St. Jude Classic after Round 1 because golf is insane and hilarious.

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Every carded a 6-under 66 that included four birdies and an eagle (plus no bogeys) and shares the lead on Thursday evening with Scott Brown. Every did it off the tee and on the greens, too. He was in the top five in strokes gained with both his driver and his putter. He said after his round that he knows there is a long way to go.

"One round is not that big of a deal," Every said. "It is nice to play well, but they don't hand out trophies after the first round. I played pretty good all day ... I saved some shots, and I haven't been doing that lately. It was a good day. I was kind of due for one."

I'll say. 

Every was outside the top 190 in every single strokes gained category (off the tee, approach shots, around the green and putting) and ranked No. 207 in strokes gained overall. In other words, he's been pretty terrible this season. 

As a result, his Official World Golf Ranking has plummeted outside the top 1,000 after hitting an apex of No. 40 following his 2015 Arnold Palmer Invitational win (that was also his last top 10 finish). Every would be one of the most unlikely winners we've had all season, even though he's won two PGA Tour events in his career. 

He doesn't have a ton of high-octane chasers, though.

Of the biggest names in the field, only Phil Mickelson and Brooks Koepka played well at 1 under. Adam Scott (1 over) and Rickie Fowler (4 over) will both fight to make the cut on Friday.

It would be quite a story for Every to multiply his season winnings by about 30 in a single event. He came into this week with nearly as many rounds in the 80s (2) as he had in the 60s (3) on the season, but he proved what we've seen over and over again at this level. Golf is a funny, fickle game and on this tour with these fields, almost anyone can contend. Even somebody who hasn't done so in over two years.