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The second round of the WGC-St. Jude Invitational ended the same as it did after Round 1 with Harris English converting his 18-hole lead to a 36-hole lead with as many left to play at TPC Southwind. However, as we head to the weekend in Memphis, there's a battle brewing with Cameron Smith, Ian Poulter, Scottie Scheffler and Sam Burns among the many lurking within striking distance at the halfway mark of the tournament.
Friday saw English maintain his spot atop the leaderboard with a modest 5-under 65 to follow up his scorching first-round 62 from Thursday. English bogeyed just once all round -- on hole No. 2 -- and played the final 16 holes at 6-under par.
But the round of the day went to Australian star Cameron Smith, who through 17 holes recorded 16 putts in one of the more stunning shows with a putter in recent memory. He finished the round with 18 total putts, tying for the fewest in a round in PGA Tour history. Smith finds himself just two back of the lead and with a share of the No. 2 spot on the leaderboard with Abraham Ancer.
Rick Gehman is joined Greg DuCharme to break down and react to Friday's second round action at the WGC FedEx St. Jude Invitational. Follow & listen to The First Cut on Apple Podcasts and Spotify.
Here's a look at the top-end of the leaderboard as we head into Moving Day at TPC Southwind on Saturday.
1. Harris English (-13): The putter wasn't working as well Friday as it did Thursday for English, who finished with a 5-under 65, but his 127 total strokes through the first two rounds ties the lowest 36-hole start ever at TPC Southwind. He took advantage of the two par 5s in Round 2 by playing them at 3 under with an eagle on the third.
T2. Cameron Smith (-11): Just how insane was Smith's showing Friday? Only four times *all day* did he record more than one putt on a hole. That tied for the same amount of holes he recorded a total of zero putts.
T2. Abraham Ancer (-11): Ancer's 8-under 62 in Round 2 matched his best-ever round on the PGA Tour as he moved to within two of the lead. Per Justin Ray, it was his 14th bogey-free round of the season, which is the most of any player on the tour.
T4. Sam Burns, Ian Poulter, Scottie Scheffler (-10): Poulter shot 64 Thursday and 66 Friday while Burns shot 66 Thursday and 66 on Friday. The two find themselves three off the lead, with Burns turning in a bogey-free round and Poulter having just 1-over score on his card through 36 holes. Scheffler dominated on the back nine -- where he began -- and struggled on the front to finish 1 under in that section.
T7. Bryson DeChambeau, Louis Oosthuizen (-9): After opening with a 65 in Round 1, DeChambeau struggled out of the gate as he made the turn at even-par. But he caught fire down the stretch with birdies at 11, 12, 13 and 18, and even his 4-under 66 wasn't reflective of how good a round he could have had. Oosthuizen, meanwhile, had the best round of this trio with a 6-under 64 to vault himself into the top 10 (again).
