Lucas Glover has simply kept things rolling.
Glover, who captured the Wyndham Championship on Sunday to qualify for the PGA Tour playoffs, posted a bogey-free, six-under-par 64 to take a one-stroke lead over first round leader Jordan Spieth midway through the FedEx St. Jude Championship, in hot, muggy conditions at TPC Southwind in Memphis, Tenn.
The top 70 players in the FedEx Cup standings and competing this week and there is no cut, with the top 50 advancing to the BMW Championship next week on the North Course at Olympia Fields Country Club in Olympia Fields, Ill., and after that event the top 30 move on to the Tour Championship at East Lake Golf Club in Atlanta, where the FedEx Cup champion will be crowned.
“I wasn’t even supposed to be here, so all of this is just a bonus,” said the 43-year-old Glover, the 2009 U.S. Open champion, who started his round on the back nine. “I played good and solid, like last week, for the first three holes, but then I made a long birdie putt on the 13th hole and holed out for on eagle at No.16, and that just really got me going.
“I’m just very pleased overall with my game because I wasn’t playing all that well for a while early this season and missed a bunch of cuts, but then I started working more on my game and things started to get better. Then I switched to the long putter, and all of a sudden, my putting isn’t a weakness anymore, but one of the strengths of my game.
“I didn’t get here until Tuesday because I wasn’t planning on it, and it’s just great to be out here with all of these great players. It’s just kind of a carryover from the last few weeks, and I just want to keep it going on the weekend.”
Glover, who has five victories on the PGA Tour and eight as a professional, followed his eagle with three birdies while finishing on the front nine and recorded a 36-hole total of 10-under-par 130.
Spieth, who opened with a bogey-free 63, made two bogeys on each nine but added six birdies to stay close with a 68. The highlight of his round was holing a 48-foot bunker shot for a birdie on the fourth hole.
“It’s funny, but I felt like I had better control of my swing today than yesterday,” said Spieth, who won the 2015 Tour Championship to claim the FedEx Cup. “I got stuck with a couple numbers where I maybe played the wrong shot, made the wrong decision, and didn’t play patiently early. Then I made a couple bad swings as well.
“ … This is just a different kind of heat. But it felt like it was just coming off the ground. I’ll bring two shirts from now on and change at the turn because I was struggling a bit early in the round.”
Sungjae Im of South Korea made an early bogey but collected six birdies in a 65 and is two shots behind in a tie for third with Tommy Fleetwood of England, who birdied four of five holes early en route to a 66; Taylor Moore, who had a second straight 66; Emiliano Grillo of Argentina, who made three birdies on his back nine in a 67, and 21-yar-old Tom Kim of South Korea who mad two birdies in a bogey-free 68.
Top-ranked Scottie Scheffler, who started the week No. 2 in the FedEx Cup point standings, birdied three of the last four holes for a 66 and is three down in a big tie for eighth with second-ranked Rory McIlroy of Northern Ireland, who was No. 3 in the standings and had two late birdies in his own 66; Adam Hadwin of Canada, who was rolling until a double-bogey 6 on the last hole capped another 66; Lee Hodges, who had seven birdies in a 65; J.T. Poston, who made three straight early birdies in a 67, and Cam Davis of Australia, who had three straight birdies late in another 67.
Sixth-ranked Xander Schauffele of La Jolla and San Diego State made only bogey in his 68 and is in a tie for 14th that includes seventh-ranked Max Homa of Valencia and Cal, who made three straight birdies to start his back nine in a 66, while fourth-ranked Patrick Cantlay and UCLA is in a tie for 18th after making two late birdies for a 67.
Fifth-ranked Viktor Hovland of Norway made eight birdies in a 64 and is tied for 30th, ninth-ranked Brian Harman is tied for 46th after 68 that included on one bogey, while third-ranked Jon Rahm of Spain, the FedEx Cup points leader to start the week, had two late birdies and a clutch 36-foot par putt on the last hole to cap a 67 and is tied for 51st, and 10th-ranked Matt Fitzpatrick of England had three birdies on the front nine in a 68 and is tied for 57th.
For complete results, third-round tee times and the FedEx Cup standings, visit: https://www.pgatour.com/leaderboard
