American JJ Spaun, number 98 in the world, maintained the leadership of St. Jude Championship, the first round of the FeEx Cup playoffs, at the end of the second round played this Friday in Memphis.
The 31-year-old golfer, seeking his second North American PGA Tour title after winning the Texas Open in April, shot a 67 (-3), with five birdies and two bogeys.
He is at -11, one shot better than the duo of Austrian Sepp Straka, who has missed in his last six tournaments, and American Troy Merritt, who made an eagle on number 16. Australian Cameron Smith, the world number two and winner of the last British Open in July, is in fifth position, three points behind Americans Brian Harman and Tony Finau.
Justin Thomas (7th), who won the PGA Championship last spring, is five shots back in 17th place.
FedEx Cup champion Patrick Cantlay (4th) and Spain’s Jon Rahm (6th) are 28th and 33rd, respectively, six and seven shots back. Rahm suffered through a day in which he hit sixteen of the eighteen greens of the Memphis course without a problem. However, his problems with the putt were noticed and this prevented him from leaving the classification. Five birdies and four bogeys signed the player from Barrika.
World number 1 Scottie Scheffler and Northern Ireland’s Rory McIlroy (3rd) missed the cut and are out of the competition.
The St. Jude Championship is the first leg of the FedEx Cup playoffs, bringing together the top 125 players from the PGA Tour’s regular season.
Only the top 70 players will advance to the next round, next week’s BMW Championship in Wilmington, Delaware, where the top 30 players will earn a spot in the final Tour Championship in Atlanta. The winner of this final round will take home a check for $18 million.
129 JJ Spaun (USA) (62-67)
130 Troy Merritt (USA) (65-65)
Sepp Straka (AUT) (64-66)
131 Denny McCarthy (USA) (66-65)
132 Tony Finau (USA) (64-68)
Brian Harman (USA) (66-66)
Ryan Palmer (USA) (65-67)
Cameron Smith (AUS) (67-65)
133 Tyler Duncan (USA) (70-63)
Lucas Glover (USA) (65-68)
Emiliano Grillo (ARG) (67-66)
Kevin Kisner (USA) (69-64)
Kyung-Hoon Lee (KOR) (64-69)
Trey Mullinax (USA) (66-67)
Adam Scott (AUS) (66-67)
Sahith Theegala (USA) (63-70)
…….
136 Jon Rahm (ESP) (67-69)
They didn’t make the cut:
139 Rory McIlroy (NIR) (70-69)
Scottie Scheffler (USA) (71-68)
144 Jordan Spieth (USA) (70-74)
Source: La Verdad
I’m Wayne Wickman, a professional journalist and author for Today Times Live. My specialty is covering global news and current events, offering readers a unique perspective on the world’s most pressing issues. I’m passionate about storytelling and helping people stay informed on the goings-on of our planet.
