South Korea's Kim Si-woo and American J.J. Spaun are the co-leaders at eight under after one round of the FedEx St. Jude Championship at TPC Southwind.
Being the first round of the FedEx Cup Playoffs, the field is made up of the top-125 from this season's FedEx Cup standings, minus LIV Golf signees Talor Gooch, Matt Jones and Hudson Swafford, who failed to have their exclusions overturned by a judge earlier this week.
Spaun shot a bogey-free 62 with eight birdies, while Kim posted seven birdies, an eagle and a solitary bogey on the par-three fourth hole.
Speaking on the broadcast after his round, Spaun said he hopes his performance during the playoffs will book his place at The Masters next year.
"It will be nice to punch another ticket there and be able to plan it out and get down Sunday, maybe even Saturday the week before, take my time and enjoy all the little things that come along with that great tradition," he said. "Hopefully keep playing well this week and the next couple weeks, and I'll be there."
In outright third place is Sahith Theegala at seven under, while one further shot back tied for fourth are Austria's Sepp Straka, South Korea's Lee Kyoung-hoon, American J.T. Poston and the red-hot Tony Finau, fresh off back-to-back PGA Tour wins for the first time in his career. Finau has shot no worse than 68 from his past 10 rounds.
The logjam in a tie for eighth at five under includes England's Tyrrell Hatton, Australia's former world number one Jason Day, and Rickie Fowler, who barely squeezed into the final field. Last week's 20-year-old first-time winner Joo-hyung 'Tom' Kim highlights the group at four under, along with Adam Scott.
Many of the serious contenders are at three under, including Cam Smith, Jon Rahm, Viktor Hovland and reigning FedEx Cup champion Patrick Cantlay, and they are one stroke ahead of major winners Matt Fitzpatrick and Shane Lowry at two under.
Jordan Spieth and Rory McIlroy shot even-par 70s, and the pair of Scottie Scheffler and Will Zalatoris have plenty of work to do after finishing at one over.
Scheffler was responsible for arguably the round's most viral moment as he caught a side-eye from playing partner Smith when he walked right in front of the Australian while he was lining up a putt, with many speculating it was an intentional slight due to reports Smith has signed on with LIV Golf for next season.
Rory McIlroy boosts chances of third RBC Canadian Open title with flawless 67
Rory McIlroy boosted his chances of a third consecutive RBC Canadian Open title with a flawless second round of 67 in Ontario.
McIlroy recorded five birdies at Oakdale Golf and Country Club to improve to six under par, three shots off the halfway lead held by China’s Carl Yuan.
The world number three first won the tournament by seven shots in 2019 but it was cancelled in 2020 and 2021 due to the Covid-19 pandemic. McIlroy carded a closing 62 to win at St George’s 12 months ago.
Asked about trying to win the title for a third time on a third different course, McIlroy said: “I sort of like it.
“I like reacting to what I’m seeing out there and targets. And I’m not a great player at playing a course by memory.
“There’s certain venues on tour that I go back to and I play well, but it’s not really because I remember how putts are breaking or where to miss it. It’s just I feel comfortable at that venue.”
Rounds of 68 and 67 gave Yuan a one-shot lead over home favourite Corey Conners, C.T. Pan and the English pair of Tyrrell Hatton and Aaron Rai.
Hatton, who fired six birdies in seven holes from the seventh in his 64, said: “A lot of putts went in, which was nice.
“The greens were a bit funky this afternoon; I managed to hit my start line, they’d bobble off line and thankfully they bobbled back on line and went in. Just happy to see the ball go in the hole and have a decent day.”
Rai was three over par after six holes of his opening round, but has played the next 30 in 11 under in pursuit of his first PGA Tour title.
“It’s a funny game and you can sometimes be playing great but sometimes be doubtful in the mind and not feel amazing over certain shots,” Rai said.
“You can sometimes be playing quite poorly but then kind of flick a switch in the mind and feel very positive about what you’re doing and what’s to come.
“So I think that was the biggest thing that even on hole number seven (on Thursday), although I was three over I felt pretty calm and pretty settled in the situation we were in. I think that was key for then finishing off the round very strongly.”
England’s Dale Whitnell holds six-shot lead at Scandinavian Mixed
England’s Dale Whitnell carded a stunning second round of 61 to open up a commanding six-shot lead at the halfway stage of the Volvo Car Scandinavian Mixed in Stockholm.
Whitnell fired six birdies in his first eight holes and started the back nine at Ullna Golf and Country Club with three more in succession from the 10th.
A 10th birdie of the day on the 15th left the 34-year-old needing to play the last three holes in three under to card the second 59 in DP World Tour history, but he could only par 16 and 17 before making a birdie on the last.
At 17 under par, Whitnell held a six-shot lead over Germany’s Ryder Cup hopeful Yannik Paul, with Scotland’s Richie Ramsay another shot back after a bogey-free 66.
England’s Alice Hewson and France’s Emma Grechi were the leading female players on five under par in the unique event which sees 78 men and 78 women compete on the same course for one prize fund and one trophy.
Defending champion Linn Grant, who recorded a stunning nine-shot victory 12 months ago in Halmstad, added a 69 to her opening 72 to lie three under.
Georgia Hall hopes Ryann O’Toole relationship helps others be true to themselves
Former AIG Women’s Open champion Georgia Hall hopes her relationship with fellow player Ryann O’Toole will encourage others to be “true to themselves”.
Hall and O’Toole had been acquaintances for several years before finally being paired in a tournament in 2022 and their relationship blossomed from then on.
“I knew her, knew her name and knew who she was but we really didn’t play together at all for like five years and we would never be near each other,” Hall said in an interview with the LPGA to mark Pride Month.
“Then we got paired together a couple of times last year, and we just got on really well and it’s went from there really.”
Although the couple are not shy about their relationship online, Hall admits she still feels her sexuality surprises some of her fans.
“There are so many comments from people we don’t know saying like, ‘So happy for you guys.’ They can see on our faces how happy we are and our love,” the 27-year-old from Bournemouth said.
“Maybe (there are) a few people kind of being like, oh, okay, she’s with a woman. That’s basically it. It’s not negative either.
SportsMax is the Caribbean sports channel of choice, committed to providing sporting content of the highest quality to the Caribbean, delivered by a team of highly innovative, passionate and qualified professionals.
(876) 619-7629
digitalmedia@sportsmax.tv
