FedEx St. Jude Championship Round 1: Jordan Spieth Leads a Record Five-Way Logjam

Jordan Spieth came to Memphis as the 54th man in a race where only 50 get to keep running. After one day of the FedExCup Playoffs, Spieth is sharing the top of the leaderboard.

Spieth shot a bogey-free 5-under 65 at TPC Southwind on Thursday and is part of a five-way tie for the lead at the FedEx St. Jude Championship. Michael Thorbjornsen, Jake Knapp, Michael Kim and Kurt Kitayama also signed for 65 in heat that pushed toward 100 degrees. Five co-leaders after the opening round is a FedExCup Playoffs record, per Golf Today, topping the previous high of four. Seven players sit one back at 66, and world No. 1 Scottie Scheffler opened with a 68.

Patience, Then a Pulse

For a long stretch, Spieth's card looked like it belonged to a man playing for a top-30 finish. Spieth opened with eight straight pars, the kind of start that tests a player who knows exactly where he stands in the standings. Then the putter woke up. The highlight came at the par-3 14th, where Spieth rolled in a birdie from roughly 40 feet, according to the PGA TOUR.

The save that kept the round clean came early. On the par-3 3rd, Spieth missed left toward the trees, then hit a third shot from 225 yards to about 20 feet and made the putt for par, per Golf Today. A bogey there would have been perfectly forgivable. Instead it became the hinge of the only kind of round that matters this week, one with nothing given back.

The context makes it louder. Spieth has not won on the PGA TOUR in more than four years and was the only one of the playoff qualifiers without a top 10 this season, per Field Level Media. He also has shot 70 or better in nine straight rounds, according to Golf Today, which suggests the form has been quietly better than the results.

"I'm just in a very different place about the game of golf than I was the last couple seasons heading into this event," Spieth said, per the PGA TOUR. He also described the job this week as staying patient and nonreactive and simplifying everything down to trying to win the tournament.

Four Other Ways to 65

Thorbjornsen's 65 might have been the gutsiest of the bunch. Two weeks removed from a first PGA TOUR win at the Rocket Classic, Thorbjornsen played through illness and said he was on antibiotics, per Field Level Media. It did not show at the finish. Thorbjornsen closed with two birdies and an eagle over the last four holes, a closing kick that turned a solid day into a share of the lead.

Knapp built his round like a pair of bookends. Three straight birdies to start, three straight birdies to finish, and in between a pair of bogeys at the 6th and 7th that the rest of the card more than covered. Knapp's road to this field still reads like a movie pitch, a few years removed from losing Korn Ferry Tour status and working as a nightclub bouncer before winning in 2024.

Kitayama came in as the safest of the five, No. 33 in the points race, so a 65 is less about survival and more about a shot at East Lake. Kim is in the opposite seat. Entering at No. 61, Kim likely needs to finish around 11th or better to move on, per the PGA TOUR. A 149-yard approach set up a birdie at the 17th, and Kim summed up the day as comfortable with the course and not the heat.

Scheffler Lurks, McIlroy Sinks

Scheffler played alongside Rory McIlroy and posted a quiet 2-under 68, three off the pace and very much in the mix. The world No. 1 also carries a strange footnote into Memphis: Scheffler has played TPC Southwind seven times without winning, more than at any other course on the PGA TOUR, according to the PGA TOUR.

McIlroy's day went the other way. A bogey, bogey, double bogey stretch sent McIlroy to a 4-over 74, leaving him 68th in a 69-player field. There is no cut this week, so there are three rounds to repair the damage, but the hole is real. Defending champion Justin Rose opened with a 73, per Golf Today.

The Crowd at 66

The group one shot back is stacked with names that matter. Defending FedExCup champion Tommy Fleetwood, Hideki Matsuyama, Sungjae Im, Adam Scott, Gary Woodland, Chris Gotterup and Bud Cauley all shot 66. Xander Schauffele, Sam Burns, Patrick Rodgers and Min Woo Lee are two back at 67.

Scott and Woodland both arrived just inside the top 30, which means a big week could punch a ticket to the TOUR Championship. Scott framed the week as a chance to cash in, saying there was so much to gain from a good finish right now.

Jackson Koivun, the 3M Open winner who slipped into the field at No. 70, played as a single and shot 71. The field is 69 players because Daniel Berger chose not to play, and there were no alternates.

What Thursday Settled

Not much, which is the point. A five-way tie with 54 holes left is a crowded doorway, and the stakes underneath it are layered. The top 50 after Sunday advance to the BMW Championship next week and lock up spots in all of next season's Signature Events. Spieth and Kim are on the wrong side of that line for now. One good round put both of them in position to change it.

Full scoring is on the official PGA TOUR leaderboard (opens in a new tab), and the TOUR's Round 1 recap (opens in a new tab) has more.

Sources: PGA TOUR (Round 1 recap and leaderboard), Field Level Media, AP, Golf Today. More golf coverage on Undrafted.

Photo: PGA TOUR.