Memphis, Tenn. – Tommy Fleetwood had another big closed stretch on four straight birdies on Friday, giving a 6-under 64 and a 36-hole lead in the FedEx Cup St. Jude Championship, set for the elusive PGA Tour title.
The top 50 of the FedEx Cup has progressed from its first postseason event. Fleetwood is already locked up until the finale of the Tour Championship. What he cares about is winning.
“It’s not happening on the PGA Tour yet, but I’m rather there, and I’m not at all there,” Fleetwood said. “And who knows? Maybe this weekend is a weekend, we’ll see, and we’ll crack from there.”
Fleetwood was 13 under 127, with four shots excluding Morakawa (65) and Akshay Batia (69). Justin Rose was at 9 under par after a par 5 16th place birdie. The storm rolled into the area and forced the audience to leave the course and pause play until Saturday morning.
Fleetwood finished with four straight birdies on Thursday. He went on three in a row, including 30 footers from the fringe at Par 3 Fort Hall in TPC Southwind. He also had a pair of keeper saves around the turn before going on another run.
He stopped a 15-foot birdie putt on the 13th and 14th. He stuffed five feet with wedges for birdies on the 15th. And he reached par 5 16th place in two innings from about 30 feet for his fourth Beldie.
The only bogey came to the last hole when he went from the bunker to the thick coarse, and the safe shot from there was 50 feet long of the pin.
“Of course, it’s easy to say that if you shoot two good scores, everything is going well,” Fleetwood said. “But I think most of the time I was very good from the tee. Put yourself up to go on the course. My iron play was good and solid and I rolled the ball well.”
Kurt kitayama scored a low round at 63 and moved him to the top five of the leaderboard to remind him of how quickly his wealth changes.
The FedEx Cup playoffs were later added up until two weeks ago. He was 110th before winning the 3M Open in Minnesota. He is currently on No. 52, and his next goal is to advance to the BMW Championship outside Baltimore next week.
It’s difficult not to pay attention to this week’s top 50. Because as they move forward in the postseason, everyone in the top 50 is guaranteed to take part in all of the $20 million signing events next year.
“Everyone feels like it’s the most part,” Kitayama said. “But you can’t control what anyone else is doing. If you play well, it’s going to take care of yourself. That’s kind of my way of thinking. But yeah, I do a pretty peek at the scoreboard.”
Scotty Schaeffler doesn’t need to look at it. The PGA and the British Open champions are far ahead in the FedEx Cup. He guarantees he will be at the top this week. That doesn’t mean he’s cruising together without warning.
Schaeffler was slowed to three bogeys on the back nine, swallowing a golf ball, leaving him visibly annoyed, landing in a rough state. He still shot 66 and was behind six shots.
The Jordan Spiece had an 8-foot putt in the final hole, spinning towards the cup and appeared to fall from gravity alone as it hangs from the edge. It summed up three bogeys, three birdies and a 70-man day, and he faced enough stress over the weekend as he left 12 shots and tried to avoid a second straight year outside the top 50 on the weekend.
Bud Corey, behind Beijing, No. 53, shot 69 and came in seventh when play was interrupted.
Once the second round is complete, the third round continues with the third round from both sides.
Fleetwood is ranked 15th in the world and has won seven European tours against some of the more powerful fields. He thrives on the big stages overseas, especially the Ryder Cup. It’s a small issue with the PGA Tour title.
He had a stunning flip at the Travelers Championship in late June, taking three putts from the green for a bogey and creating Keegan Bradley beat birdies.
“Now I just want to go somewhere, and maybe I want to do it,” he told travelers on Sunday. “But there’s no point in making it negative for the future. Just do something positive and move on.”
He gets another chance at TPC Southwind over the weekend, but still only a halfway point, but at least he has the chance to command a game from the tee to the green.