The first round of the first event at the 2024 FedEx Cup Playoffs has drawn to close, and we officially have a narrative arc to follow for the next three days at the FedEx St. Jude Championship. To the surprise of absolutely nobody, Scottie Scheffler and Xander Schauffele -- the two players way out in front in the FedEx Cup race -- both played terrific golf Thursday shooting dueling 66s while playing alongside one another, good enough for a T5 position after Round 1.
This matters for a couple of reasons. The first is that both are just two back of the lead, which is tremendously problematic for the rest of the field. The second is that, if the tournament ended right now, they would easily maintain the top two spots in the FedEx Cup points race holding advantages of 10 under and 8 under when the Tour Championship starts at East Lake.
The race for third is officially on, though -- both in terms of FedEx Cup points as well as potentially at this golf tournament with the top two players in the world playing as well as these two.
Let's take a closer look at the first round.
The leader
1. Chris Kirk (-6):Kirk made an ace (!) en route to shooting the best round of the day, a 6-under 64. It happened at the 205-yard pa-3 14th hole, and it moved him to 7 under on the afternoon, which is where he stayed until a bogey at the last dropped him back just a bit. Still, it was enough to lead the tournament and it has him in the mix for what would be his second career FedEx Cup Playoffs victory.
When he was asked how many he's had in his career, Kirk flexed on everyone.
"I think nine," he said. "I need to go back and -- I remember the first few really well and then there's some that I have to kind of be reminded of a little bit of where I made them. But I'm pretty sure that's the right number, nine."
More importantly for Kirk, this could be a huge week for his season as a whole. Following his victory at The Sentry at the beginning of January, he has put together just one top 10 since. He's now in position for a second, and at No. 12 in the Presidents Cup standings, any high finish here would boost his chances of being on that team.
Kirk is in position to gain quite a bit if his run of strong play continues at TPC Southwind.
Contenders
T2. Taylor Pendrith, Matthieu Pavon, Hideki Matsuyama (-5)
T5. Justin Rose, Tommy Fleetwood, Scottie Scheffler, Xander Schauffele (-4)
T12. Justin Thomas, Nick Dunlap, Sam Burns (-3)
Thomas fascinates me in this position. He's ranked higher in the FedEx Cup than most believe (19th), and he has had crazy success at this tournament before with a win and two other top 15s. He seems to be lurking in an awesome position to jump up and potentially steal this tournament, which would add needed momentum for the rest of the playoffs.
What you love to see if you're a J.T. fan: He was sixth in the field in approach play on Thursday, which is both his bread and butter and also something he has struggled to reign in over the last two years.
Scottie Scheffler's greatness
If you want to know what makes Scheffler great -- among many things -- let me explain. After a good drive at the par-5 3rd hole, Scheffler hit this wipe-y approach that landed in the water. At that point, his 1 under score looked like it wouldn't stand, and he would be reset while his playing partner, Schauffele, and others raced out in front.
Next thing you know, Scheffler is 4 under walking off the 6th green.
What?! How?!
He made a 14-foot par save on that 3rd hole and used the momentum to birdie the next three to get his round to 4 under, which helped him go out in 31. This is what makes him great -- the ability to keep his rounds together while not making big numbers and leveraging what could have gone sideways into shots that help him win golf tournaments. It is an incredible skill that has led to some extraordinary statistics.
Stat of the day
Hideki Matsuyama has never finished better than 8th in the FedEx Cup. It's a stat I would have lost some money on if offered as a wager. His current projection based on how the standings are right now is 4th.
Bubble boys
Here's a look at the current players around the top 50 bubble, including a few notables and how they performed on Thursday.
| Start | Golfer | Finish | Score |
|---|---|---|---|
| 45 | McCarthy, Denny | 30 | -4 |
| 46 | Scott, Adam | 50 | E |
| 47 | Greyserman, Max | 54 | +5 |
| 48 | Hughes, Mackenzie | 53 | E |
| 49 | Zalatoris, Will | 47 | -1 |
| 50 | Knapp, Jake | 57 | E |
| 51 | English, Harris | 44 | -2 |
| 52 | Taylor, Nick | 45 | -2 |
| 53 | Rodgers, Patrick | 55 | -1 |
| 54 | Cole, Eric | 59 | +1 |
| 55 | Rose, Justin | 37 | -4 |
| 57 | Hovland, Viktor | 63 | E |
| 62 | Lee, Min Woo | 66 | E |
| 63 | Spieth, Jordan | 60 | -2 |
| 67 | Dunlap, Nick | 62 | -3 |
The big movers here are Denny McCarthy and Justin Rose with Will Zalatoris providing a bit of a bumper between him and that No. 50 spot. Another interesting nugget: Zalatoris has never played a round at the Tour Championship. The only year he qualified (2022), he was too injured to tee it up.
2024 St. Jude Championship updated odds, picks
- Scottie Scheffler: 5/2
- Xander Schauffele: 11/2
- Hideki Matsuyama: 15/2
- Rory McIlroy: 12-1
- Tommy Fleetwood: 14-1
Kirk, the leader, sits is at 22-1, which represents the fact that no one actually believes he can hold off the superstars behind him on this leaderboard. This is Scheffler or Schauffele's tournament to lose. I would go with Schauffele just because of the longer number and because he's been just as good as Scheffler for most of the last few months. This week -- and the entire FedEx Cup Playoffs -- will come down to those two players.
