MEMPHIS, Tenn. – Prior to Thursday, Jon Rahm had never seen the front nine holes at TPC Southwind. So it came as a bit of a surprise when he fired a 5-under 30 on the stretch as part of an 8-under 62 in the opening round of the World Golf Championships – FedEx St. Jude Invitational. It was enough for a three-shot lead over Patrick Cantlay, Bubba Watson, Cameron Smith, Hideki Matsuyama and Shugo Imahira. Jetlagged and exhausted from his last five weeks of golf that included two majors on different continents, a home appearance at the Spanish Masters, a win at the Irish Open and a trip to a friend’s wedding, Rahm decided to cut his Wednesday practice session short. That meant he would go into the front side of TPC Southwind, the last nine of his opening round having started on No. 10, blind on Thursday. “I didn’t do anything Monday or Tuesday, I just rested and stretched at the hotel, in the room,â€� Rahm said. “And then yesterday I came with the plan of playing 18 holes. I putted and warmed up, and after four holes… I was dead. I couldn’t swing properly. I was really tired, so I just decided to just finish the round of nine holes, eat and just putt a little bit and go. “I tried to put a little emphasis on being rested and it paid off today. Obviously I have three more days to go and hopefully the battery lasts, but that was the main deal for me.â€� Thankfully, caddie Adam Hayes has seen the track quite a few times with previous clients. When Hayes gave Rahm the target, the 24-year-old listened and executed. The Spanish star was lights-out with his putter, gaining over five strokes on the 63-man field on the greens. His +5.203 Strokes Gained: Putting mark is the best of his PGA TOUR career. He needed just 23 putts and missed just once from inside 25 feet. Between 15 and 25 feet, Rahm was 5-of-5. “My last 10 holes, I made a lot of putts. I hit really good putts and I read the greens properly, but I think the main key out of all that, it was my positioning,â€� he explained. “I know I tend to be an aggressive player, but I tried to think about it today and I left myself pretty much on every single putt, besides 18, I was almost in the fall line every time. “The putts on one, two, seven and eight, those birdie putts that I made, not any of them were aimed outside the edge right or left. So that’s what made it so comforting because I knew, especially with the greens being this pure, if I started the ball on line I was going to have a chance.â€�
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