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Two of the three medalists from the 2024 Paris Olympics find themselves in a similar position heading into the weekend in Memphis. Backing up an opening 5-under 65 with a 64 on Friday, Hideki Matsuyama stands at 11 under alongside Denny McCarthy atop the 2024 St. Jude Championship leaderboard.
The pair heads into the second half of the initial playoff event not only one clear of Sam Burns but two clear of gold medalist and world No. 1 Scottie Scheffler. Surging late on Friday with three birdies in his final four holes, Scheffler signed for a bogey-free 65 to get in the clubhouse at 9 under.
Entering the postseason atop the regular-season FedEx Cup standings, Scheffler has a stranglehold on the spot thanks to his six victories: the Masters, The Players Championship and four signature events. A win may not do anything to improve his starting point at the Tour Championship -- it is all but guaranteed he'll tee off in the pole position at 10 under -- but it would represent a big step towards some potential history.
Tiger Woods (2000) and Vijay Singh (2004) hold the record for most wins in a PGA Tour season with nine; Scheffler has a chance to match their totals should he run the table this postseason.
"Today, it's just nice to have a clean card," Scheffler said. "No bogeys, did a good job of having some nice up-and-downs to kind of keep the momentum and the round going. I holed a nice putt for par early in the round on No. 5, and then I had a couple nice chips after that getting it close to the hole making what could have been a stressful par into a pretty stress-free par with some nice pitches. Overall, it was a pretty good day."
Scheffler has put together plenty of "pretty good" days this season but not all have been as lucky.
It appears certain that Jordan Spieth will be packing his bags unable to advance in the FedEx Cup Playoffs come Sunday evening should a momentous weekend fail to arrive. Winners from this season like Cam Davis, Peter Malnati, and Jake Knapp are on the wrong side of the number, as is budding superstar Min Woo Lee.
The leaders
T1. Denny McCarthy, Hideki Matsuyama (-11): It hasn't quite turned into a putting contest yet, but don't tell Matsuyama and McCarthy. Matsuyama leads the way through two rounds gaining nearly five strokes on the field with his blade in hand, while McCarthy has been his usual self on the greens. Both of these players have dealt with their fair share of adversity, which makes their positioning atop the leaderboard even more impressive. Matsuyama's team was robbed on his way back from the Olympics, which forced his caddie and coach to return to Japan in order to retrieve new visas and passports. Meanwhile, McCarthy revealed he has been dealing with a torn labrum in his hip similar to Davis Love III and more recently Harris English.
"It's just coming through on the downswing a little bit. It's just hard to maybe get a little more rotation, push up through the ground than I would like. It's been OK," McCarthy said. "The heat really helps it. It really loosens it up. But I've had to spend a lot of time post-round, pre-round getting it loose, getting it ready to go to play a full round. It feels really good. I haven't been thinking about it too much, which is nice. Just kind of been focused on -- sounds cliche, I've just been focused on each shot really, trying to put the same amount of importance and focus into each shot."
Contenders
3. Sam Burns (-10)
4. Scottie Scheffler (-9)
T5. Justin Rose, Nick Dunlap (-8)
T7. Viktor Hovland, Billy Horschel, Robert MacIntyre (-7)
T10. Will Zalatoris, Erik van Rooyen, Chris Kirk (-6)
Scheffler has yet to do anything spectacular, but he is in a perfect spot to chase down the two leaders. He lost strokes on approach in Round 1 and on the greens in Round 2. Once the entirety of his game comes together -- given his play this year, that seems like it will come in a matter of time -- the rest of the field may be in deep trouble.
"You've got to be playing some really great golf to shoot a low score. There's opportunity out there," Scheffler said. "The greens aren't super firm. You can attack when you're in the fairway. But there's a good amount of water on the course. The Bermuda rough can be tough to judge and there's a good amount of trees, as well. There's trouble around, so you've got to be really on top of your game to shoot low scores."
The reigning champion has life
Viktor Hovland, who claimed the FedEx Cup last year, entered the St. Jude Championship on the outside looking in. Thirty-six holes later, he has positioned himself to play into next week. The last winner at the BMW Championship and Tour Championship, Hovland fired a second-round 63 to jump inside the top 10 on the leaderboard and inside the projected top 50 in the FedEx Cup.
Amid a season where he has played only 13 PGA Tour events and compiled just one top 10 finish, the 27-year-old star appears to have found his footing at the exact right time. Hovland's postseason scoring average in 2023 was 66.17 after opening the St. Jude Championship with a 72. Despite not believing his 2024 will turn out like 2023, there is no denying the start is at least similar.
"I don't think this situation is exactly the same as last year, even though it looks like it," Hovland said. "But where my golf swing kind of feels like, I still know some of those misses are in there and I can feel them. It's not as close as it was last year after I had that range session and felt like things were clicking, and then obviously getting off to a nice start the next day, just kind of rode that momentum.
"This year we still have a little bit of extra work to do. I felt like I had to lean on my putter maybe a little bit too much today. But I do feel like the game is becoming more and more consistent. I can kind of step up and hit the fairway, hit the green multiple holes in a row, and when you get into a rhythm like that, it becomes easier to play golf. Hopefully we can just keep going on that."
FedEx Cup bubble
| Start | Golfer | Projected | Score | Tournament Position |
|---|---|---|---|---|
45 | Denny McCarthy | 4 | -11 | T1 |
46 | Adam Scott | 50 | -2 | T33 |
47 | Max Greyserman | 54 | +3 | T65 |
48 | Mackenzie Hughes | 55 | +1 | T58 |
49 | Will Zalatoris | 33 | -6 | T10 |
50 | Jake Knapp | 58 | +5 | 69 |
51 | Harris English | 47 | -4 | T20 |
52 | Nick Taylor | 48 | -4 | T20 |
53 | Patrick Rodgers | 59 | E | T56 |
54 | Eric Cole | 57 | -2 | T33 |
55 | Justin Rose | 32 | -8 | T5 |
57 | Viktor Hovland | 41 | -7 | T7 |
62 | Min Woo Lee | 62 | -2 | T33 |
63 | Jordan Spieth | 67 | +3 | T65 |
| 67 | Nick Dunlap | 49 | -8 | T5 |
2024 St. Jude Championship updated odds, picks
- Scottie Scheffler: 2-1
- Hideki Matsuyama: 3-1
- Sam Burns: 13/2
- Denny McCarthy: 8-1
- Viktor Hovland: 22-1
- Xander Schauffele: 25-1
- Justin Rose: 30-1
- Billy Horschel: 30-1
- Nick Dunlap: 30-1
Halfway through the tournament, Scheffler is still not down to half of his pre-tournament number. This may be the last chance to get him at 2-1, especially if Matsuyama's putting and McCarthy's irons slip up (both prone to such mistakes). While Scheffler is the selection to ultimately win, Rose is the best price on the board. He leads the field in strokes gained tee to green and should find the putter over the weekend.
