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Reuters
South Korea's Si Woo Kim and J.J. Spahn kicked off the FedEx Cup playoffs in style, scoring the match at 8-under 62 and taking a first-round lead at Thursday's FedEx St. Jude Championship in Memphis, Tennessee. shared.
This pair leads his PGA Tour rookie Sahith Siegala. In one shot, Tony Finau, J.T. Poston, South Korea's K.H. Lee and Austria's Sepp Straka tied for fourth with a 6-under 64 at TPC Southwinds.
Kim holed an eagle on his par-4 18th hole and scored four birdies in a row to quickly take him to 8-under. His shot with Kim's 8 iron from about 168 yards went dead along the pin and hopped twice before dropping into the cup.
Kim extended his birdie streak at 13-16 into a mid-round putting tweak to his grip. His two birdies in the first his putts landed from about 13 and 24 feet respectively.
"Putting His grip changes help and give him a more comfortable feeling," said Kim. "A few drops kept me feeling confident." Meanwhile, Spaun circled the course with his eight birdies and no bogeys. He's had the kind of start he's been looking for, trying to get back to the form he was in when he won the Valero Texas Open in April.
"I think he putt and drove very well," Spaun said. "I think I hit 15 out of 18 greens, so that's a pretty good combo."
Sigala's bogey-free 63 marked his 49th round in his 60s this season and the PGA I am leading the tour. He started back on his nines with his three birdies, and on his 4th from 2nd he stole three straights, and on his ninth hole of the last hole, a par 4, he was 25 feet tall. I let go of the putt.
"Probably the best driving his round of the year," said Siegarra. "I think I hit 11 or 12 fairways, but those fairways are pretty tight. It's cool to see some of the work me and [his coach] have done in the last few days.
St. Jude is the new first round of the FedEx Cup Playoffs, with the top 125 regular season points standings (120 qualified) qualifying and only the top 70 from this week onwards to become BMW champions in Round 2.
Two notable players from the bubble got off to a good start: former world No. 1 Jason Day (AUS), who finished the week with 113 points, finished 65 without bogey. He was alongside Rickie Fowler, who recorded an opening 65 for Star Eagle on par 5. 16.
was the last player in a field of 125 and was , Fowler, who split from his caddy earlier this week, hit the 16th green in two with only a 6-footer left for the Eagle, which moved him to a tie for 8th at 5-under.
"Finally got a good number with a right-hand breeze and was able to get the 4-iron cruising. I hung it up a bit and the breeze was there to keep it going," Fowler said. . "Perfectly done. I cut a little bit of the pin off and kept it there." Norway, Spain's Jon Rahm, Colin Morikawa, Patrick Cantley and Cameron Young.
Jordan Spieth and Rory McIlroy of Northern Ireland fell behind on even par 70s. World No. 1 Scotty Schaeffler and Will Zaratris struggled until 1 over 71 seconds.
– Field Level Media
