Bhatia 'not trying to force anything', be at ease
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Yahoo
32 minutes ago
- Yahoo
Fleetwood leads St. Jude in search of first US PGA Tour title
England's Tommy Fleetwood positioned himself to strike for a first US PGA Tour title this weekend, firing a six-under par 64 to take a four-shot lead early in the second round of the St. Jude Championship in Memphis, Tennessee. Fleetwood used birdie bursts early and late on TPC Southwind to build a 36-hole total of 13-under 127. With the latest starters still on the course, he had a four-shot lead over overnight leader Akshay Bhatia, Collin Morikawa and Justin Rose. Morikawa fired a five-under 65 and was joined in the clubhouse on nine-under 131 by fellow American Bhatia, who posted a 69. Rose was nine-under with two holes remaining when a sudden thunderstorm halted play. Fleetwood, a seven-time winner on the DP World Tour, has six runner-up finishes on the US tour, including a playoff loss to US Ryder Cup captain Keegan Bradley at the Travelers Championship in June. "Maybe this weekend is the weekend," Fleetwood said. "It hasn't happened for me yet on the PGA Tour, but I would much rather be up there and not quite get it done than not there at all." Fleetwood started the day one shot off the lead and got going early with birdies at the second, third and fourth -- where he rolled in a 28-foot putt from off the fairway. He dropped a 16-foot birdie putt at the 13th to launch a run of four straight birdies, and had plenty of cushion even after a closing bogey at 18, where he was in a fairway bunker off the tee. "Those were two nice runs to get on," Fleetwood said of his birdie bursts. "Yesterday I felt like I stayed very patient, and then today after a hot start I wasn't feeling that comfortable with my swing, so actually then to get on a run after that -- I hit great shots into 13, 14, I played those holes really, really well, played them perfect." Two-time major-winner Morikawa climbed the leaderboard with a round highlighted by a hole out for eagle from the fairway at the ninth. "Yeah, 127 (yards), tried to land it 125. Came off weird off the face. It almost came off knuckly ... but just with a breath of wind behind you, it just looked like it was diving out of the air. "When it landed it looked great, and always a nice sigh of relief when you see it go in." - Erratic Scheffler - For Bhatia, coming off a career-best round of 62, it was a frustrating day. After two birdies and a bogey in the first four holes he made all pars the rest of the way. World number one Scottie Scheffler, coming off his fourth major title at the Open Championship at Royal Portrush, posted an erratic four-under par 66 that featured eight birdies and four bogeys. It left him six shots off the lead and prompted a couple of frustrated outbursts from the famously even-keeled champion. Scheffler, whose four titles so far in 2025 also include another major at the PGA Championship, came into the first event of the tour's FedEx Cup playoffs atop the points standings. The top 70 on the list qualified for this week's tournament and however Scheffler's weekend goes he can be confident of emerging on Sunday among the top 50 who advance to the BMW Championship next week. The top 30 after the BMW advance to the Tour Championship, where Scheffler will be defending his FedEx Cup playoff crown. bb/js
NBC Sports
2 hours ago
- NBC Sports
Scottie Scheffler loses temper in Memphis heat, but still in the mix at FedEx St. Jude
After bogeying the 10th hole during the second round of the FedEx St. Jude Championship and showing some rare frustration, four-time major champion Scottie Scheffler bounced back with a beautiful birdie at the next hole. Scottie Scheffler is guaranteed to be atop the FedExCup points list after this week, putting him in good position for another $5 million bonus, and his performance this week and next won't affect his standing entering the playoff finale at East Lake. So, the world No. 1 should be feeling carefree at the FedEx St. Jude Championship, right? Well … Scheffler shot 4-under 66 Friday at TPC Southwind to finish at 7 under par, six back of leader Tommy Fleetwood. It was a decent score, but one with too many dropped shots that led to a few outbursts. Scheffler had eight birdies and four bogeys in sweltering second round in Memphis, Tennessee. One of those bogeys came at the par-4 10th, where Scheffler hit his approach shot into the right greenside bunker. His escape raced past the pin and into the fringe, 16 feet from the hole. He slammed his wedge multiple times into the sand before two-putting. As he often does, however, Scheffler responded with a birdie at the par-3 11th and made two more at Nos. 13 and 14. But then came a bogey-birdie-bogey sandwich at the 15th, 16th and 17th holes. On the par-4 17th, Scheffler hit his tee shot right, immediately dropping his driver to the ground and then catching himself just before kicking it. Playing his approach shot from the rough, his ball shot left and into more rough around the green, to which an exasperated Scheffler said: 'Can I get one lie that's just not the worst lie ever? Just one! Just one!' He continued his express his angst while walking away from the offending lie. The scene was reminiscent of last year's playoffs when Scheffler had a mini meltdown at the BMW Championship in Colorado. Scheffler, a two-time major champion this year and the defending FedExCup champion, bogeyed the 17th and parred the 18th.
NBC Sports
2 hours ago
- NBC Sports
Fleetwood's second sub-65 day 'feels really nice'
Tommy Fleetwood joins Damon Hack from the FedEx St. Jude Championship to reflect on his back-to-back sub-65 rounds and details how he plans to stay composed for the final two rounds.
