South Korean Kim Si-woo and American J.J. Spaun scored a tie for 62 after one round of the FedEx St. Jude Championship at TPC Southwind.
Kim entered the FedExCup Playoffs at 50th in the point rankings.
Kim aimed for eagle on the par-4 18th to get to 8 under after he has made progress with four birdies. His 8-iron shot from around 168 yards was dead on line and went into the hole after two hops.
Kim recorded a birdie on the 10th. However, he briefly felt uncomfortable on the greens.
“The change of the putting grip, it helps and then makes more comfortable feeling,” Kim said. “A couple of drops and I kept getting confidence.”
He claimed his birdie streak at No. 13-16 to a mid-round tweak to his putting grip. Kim landed his two birdie putts from around 13 and 24 feet, respectively.
“I’m just trying to like 10 feet on left side and it was perfect shot, came off,” he said.
Starting the Playoffs with a BANG 🔥
Si Woo Kim holes out to finish his last 6 in -6.
He leads by 2 @FedExChamp. pic.twitter.com/v7LAqPjFeW
— PGA TOUR (@PGATOUR) August 11, 2022
Spaun’s standings
While Kim finished first in approach shots, Spaun finished third. Spaun shot a bogey-free 62 with eight birdies, while Kim posted seven birdies, and eagle, and a solitary bogey on the par-3 fourth hole.
After his round, Spaun hoped his performance during the playoffs would earn him a spot at The Masters next year.
“It will be nice to punch another ticket there and be able to plan it out and get down Sunday, maybe even Saturday the week before, take my time and enjoy all the little things that come along with that great tradition,” Spaun said.
“Hopefully keep playing well this week and the next couple weeks, and I’ll be there.”
Spaun has never finished higher than 62nd in the FedEx Cup. Regardless, both he and Kim are predicted to be in the top three with 2,000 FedEx Cup points on the table for the winner on Sunday.
Other players’ performance
Tony Finau shot a 64 on Thursday, which was somewhat almost below his 10-round average after he won in both the 3M Open and the Rocket Mortgage Classic in consecutive weeks in July.
Meanwhile, Rickie Fowler shot his second-best round of the year with a 65. He barely made it into the playoffs in the last position at No. 125 in the FedEx Cup standings, in which he took the opportunity in Round 1. Previously, he shot a 63 in Round 3 of the CJ Cup in October last year.
“I felt like I got some good stuff in and in a way kind of coming in, nothing to lose,” Fowler said.
“Being 125, I need to play well to just make it to next week, but it would be a big bonus if we can do that and move on. Kind of leave it all out there, see what happens, but definitely happy with the start, especially with not making a whole lot.”
On the other hand, Scottie Scheffler had one of the worst putting rounds and shot 71. This resulted in him finishing at 120th in the field in putting.