Scott (64) surges into contention at St. Jude

GERMANTOWN, Tenn. – It took three balls in the water and the worst putting round of Scottie Scheffler’s professional career for the top spot in the FedExCup to finally be up for grabs. RELATED: Leaderboard | Projected FedExCup standings Scheffler had put the the number one spot out of reach with his incredible stretch in the first half of the year. He’s led the TOUR’s season-long points race since winning four times in six starts, including the Masters, and most of those weeks he’s had a margin so large that it would take his closest pursuer multiple events to chase him down. The elevated points in the Playoffs, however, mean that we could have a new FedExCup leader for the first time since March, though it’s far from a certainty because of Scheffler’s success earlier this season. He missed the cut in the Playoffs opener, the FedEx St. Jude Championship, by just a single shot despite his struggles on the greens and finding some of the penalty areas that make TPC Southwind the annual site of the most water balls on TOUR. “Anytime you lose five strokes on the greens and still give yourself a chance to make the cut is pretty good,” Scheffler said Friday after signing for a 68, “because five shots is a lot.” It was Scheffler’s fourth missed cut of the season, matching his number of wins. He is still projected to hold the top spot in the FedExCup, however, because he entered the Playoffs with a 1,221-point lead over Cameron Smith. “I was practicing really hard at home, was playing really well and just showed up and had my worst putting day ever,” Scheffler said. “Golf kind of smacks you in the face sometimes.” Scheffler started his week by hitting his approach on TPC Southwind’s 10th hole to 4 feet. He missed the birdie putt, however. It was the start of a trend. He missed a 9-footer for birdie on the next hole, as well. Then he played the next three holes in 4 over, hitting two approach shots into the water. He made three birdies and no bogeys the rest of the way to salvage a 71 despite losing 4.6 strokes on the greens. He missed six putts inside 10 feet in the opening round, including three within 5 feet. Friday started promisingly with birdies on two of his first three holes, and he was still 1 under when he hit his approach to No. 9 into the lake fronting the green. Birdies at 14 and 15 pulled him within one of the cut line, but he missed an 8-foot birdie putt on 16 and 20-footers on the final two holes. Only 15 players arrived at TPC Southwind within 2,000 FedExCup points of Scheffler, the number of points awarded for a win this week. Six players who could pass Scheffler are inside the top 20 on the leaderboard, and within five shots of J.J. Spaun’s lead entering the weekend. Smith and Tony Finau are both three back and in a tie for fifth place. Finau is looking for his third consecutive win, while Smith is looking to add the FedExCup to his wins at THE PLAYERS and The Open. Sam Burns, Justin Thomas, Will Zalatoris and Matt Fitzpatrick are all five back and in a tie for 17th. Zalatoris’ 63 matched Friday’s low round. Only two of the 15 players who could pass Scheffler, No. 6 Rory McIlroy and 15th-ranked Jordan Spieth, missed the cut (Hideki Matsuyama, who’s 11th in the FedExCup, withdrew before the tournament began with a neck injury). McIlroy bogeyed his 18th hole Friday to also miss the cut by one. Spieth shot 74 on Friday and finished six outside of the cut line. Five winners in the FedExCup’s 15-year history failed to earn a point in the Playoffs opener. Justin Rose (2018), Jordan Spieth (2015) and Billy Horschel (2014) missed the cut. Jim Furyk was disqualified from the first Playoffs event in 2010 for missing his pro-am tee time after his cell phone lost power overnight and his alarm didn’t go off. Tiger Woods won the inaugural FedExCup after choosing to not play the first Playoffs event. NOTES: Anirban Lahiri missed the cut by one but is clinging to the 70th spot in the projected standings after entering the week at No. 63 in the standings. TOUR rookie Alex Smalley is in a similar position, sitting two ahead of Lahiri in the standings after also missing the cut by one. … The seasons are over for players who entered the week outside the top 70 in the FedExCup and missed the cut. Those players include Matthew NeSmith, who entered the week at No. 72; Nick Watney (No. 111); Puerto Rico Open champion Ryan Brehm (No. 117); former PLAYERS champion Webb Simpson (No. 122); former FedExCup champion Justin Rose (No. 94) and Stewart Cink (No. 115), who won twice last year. BMW BUBBLE WATCH Here are the players projected to move inside the top 70 of the FedExCup after the second round of the FedEx St. Jude Championship and advance to next week’s BMW Championship at Wilmington (Del.) Country Club: PROJCTED IN Adam Scott (No. 77, projected to 53): He’s T9 at 7-under 133 after making birdie on his final two holes Friday. A good finish not only would get him in the BMW but would clinch his Presidents Cup spot and keep Captain Trevor Immelman from needing to use a Captain’s Pick on him. Scott currently holds the eighth and final spot in the International Team standings; the top eight after the BMW qualify for the team. Ryan Palmer (No. 110, projected to 56): The veteran is seeking his 11th BMW appearance in the last 14 years. He is just three off the lead after shooting 65-67. Wyndham Clark (No. 79, projected to 62): Birdied his final three holes Friday to shoot second straight 67. He sits at 6 under as he seeks his first BMW start in three years. Andrew Putnam (No. 87, projected to 67): Former runner-up at TPC Southwind (2018 FedEx St. Jude Classic) is seeking first BMW start since 2019. PROJECTED OUT Cam Davis (No. 66, projected to 71): Got up-and-down on his final hole of the day to make the cut on the number and keep his BMW hopes alive. Brendon Todd (No. 68, projected to 72): Made three bogeys in his first six holes Friday, but played his last 12 holes in 4 under to make the cut and keep his Playoffs hopes alive. John Huh (No. 67, projected to 74): The runner-up at last week’s Wyndham Championship withdrew with a lower-back injury after shooting 40 on his first nine holes Friday. Lanto Griffin (No. 69, projected to 78): He is not in the field after having back surgery earlier this year.

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HUMBLE, Texas — Rickie Fowler doesn’t need a win in Texas to book his place in the Masters field. But that doesn’t make this week is any less important for the four-time TOUR winner, who arrived in search of positive vibes in the final tune-up before the year’s first major championship. After one round, Fowler believes his game is trending in the right direction after he opened with 66 on Thursday to move into contention. “Had a couple short ones that we could have got, but all in all, good solid day,” Fowler said. “I like where we’re heading into the next few days and going into the weekend.” Fowler began his round with three birdies in the first seven holes and added two more after the turn before suffering his first bogey on the par-4 6th — his 15th hole of the day — when his fairway bunker shot hit the bank and rolled into the water. Fowler managed to get up-and-down for bogey to limit the damage and then reeled off back-to-back birdies to close out his round on a high note. “Being in contention and getting yourself in position to win and kind of get the blood flowing, it makes it a lot easier to start things up,” Fowler said of playing well in Houston the week before the Masters. The putter was the difference for Fowler, who made 168 feet, 11 inches worth of putts — 51 feet, 7 inches more than his previous-best figure in the category this season — and only recorded one birdie putt shorter than 10 feet. Ranked 127th this season in strokes gained: putting, Fowler admitted the club has cooled since last season when he finished second in the statistical category. That wasn’t the case on Thursday. “Nice to have the putter coming around because it was something that was great last year,” he said. “I feel like it’s always been one of my strongest parts when it gets going, and I’ve had a couple cold months, so heating back up.” OBSERVATIONS Hoping to book his place in the Masters field, Steve Stricker opened with 67 and sits just two shots back of the lead after Round 1. While his wins came on the PGA TOUR Champions, it could be debated that no one in the field is playing at a higher level than Stricker, who won last week in Mississippi for his second straight victory on the 50-and-older circuit. Phil Mickelson has come agonizingly close to shooting 59. For nine holes on Thursday, it appeared the 43-time TOUR winner was well on his way to potentially getting another shot. Six birdies on the front saw Mickelson go out in 30, but the round hit a snag on the par-3 14th when he failed to advance his ball out of the greenside bunker, leading to a double bogey. Mickelson still shot 68. A two-hour rain delay to begin the first round ensured a return to the course on Friday for 33 players in the field. The Golf Club of Houston received 2.30 inches of rain. Round 1 will resume at 7:20 a.m. (local time) with Round 2 expected to begin as scheduled. Making his first start in Houston, Kevin Tway managed to log just one practice round before his pro-am was canceled on Wednesday due to inclement weather. A lack of course knowledge wasn’t an issue for Tway, who shot a bogey-free 65 to grab a share of the clubhouse lead with Lucas Glover. “I was kind of going at it a little less prepared than usual, but sometimes that’s good and today it was,” said Tway. Receptive greens and preferred lies in closely-mown areas turned the day into a birdie-fest for many in the field, with 39 players shooting 68 or better. Normally the first round is an opportunity to get into position for the weekend, but with low scores up for grabs, some felt the need to be even more aggressive than normal. “I was going right at it trying to hole a couple, especially with the wedges. You’ve got to try and make birdie with those conditions,” said Tway. One week after he came close to advancing out of the group stage at the World Golf Championships-Dell Technologies Match Play, Julian Suri was Monday qualifying for the Houston Open. The 72nd-ranked player in the world shot 64 to make the field and then opened with 66 in just his fourth TOUR start this season. NOTABLES Jordan Spieth – The 2015 FedExCup champion opened with 68, his lowest first-round score at the Houston Open. Spieth waited until the end of the round to produce some fireworks, rolling in three consecutive birdies from inside 8 feet to move into contention. Henrik Stenson – The 2013 FedExCup champion never got the putter going but still managed to shoot 4-under 68. The Swede only missed two greens in regulation. Justin Rose – Rose hasn’t skipped a beat this season with four top 10s in his first five starts. His run of good form continued with an opening-round 68 that could have been even better if not for a bogey on the last. Six of his last 10 rounds have been sub-70. Tony Finau – Making his fourth appearance at the Houston Open, Finau hit 15 greens in regulation but needed 31 putts to get around the course in 2-under 70. Russell Henley – The defending champion made four birdies in his first six holes but only made one the rest of the way. He’s now opened with a sub-70 round three of the last four years. Matt Kuchar – Kuchar made his move on the back nine with four birdies in a five-hole stretch, beginning on the 12th, to shoot 68. He’s attempting to make the cut for the fifth time in 10 starts at the Houston Open. QUOTABLES I enjoyed the texts early on for extra sleep. Sleep’s always good for me. SUPERLATIVES Low round: Lucas Glover and Kevin Tway opened with 65s to grab a share of the clubhouse lead. The score was the lowest of the year for both players. Sam Ryder (8 under) and Beau Hossler (7 under) were still on the course when play was called due to darkness. Longest drive: 381 yards – Chesson Hadley padded his driving stats for the season with a poke that caught the cart path on the par-4 17th and wound up 86 yards from the hole. Hadley took advantage of his good fortune by making birdie. Longest putt: 53 feet, one inch – Matt Jones drained the lengthy birdie putt on the par-3 9th hole. Easiest hole: Par-5, No. 8 (4.450) with 68 birdies, 52 pars and 5 bogeys. Hardest hole: Par-4, No. 18 (4.147) with 14 birdies, 85 pars, 28 bogeys, 1 double bogey and 1 other. SHOT OF THE DAY

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