Scottie Scheffler fires supreme 61 to take control of St. Jude Championship

[p]The 30-year-old American sank 11 birdies against two bogeys to stand on 11-under 129 after 36 holes in the PGA FedEx Cup playoff opener at TPC Southwind in Memphis, Tennessee.[/p][p]"[b]I felt like I did a lot of stuff well[/b]," [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/scheffler-scottie/bXfIuBYu/"]Scheffler[/a] said. "[b]I gave myself a lot of looks, hit some nice iron shots and was able to make some birdies[/b]."[/p][p]Four others have also fired 61s at the layout, the most recent being England's [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/rose-justin/rR1fSdat/"]Justin Rose[/a] in 2023.[/p][p]South Korean Im Sung-jae fired a 66 to stand second on 132 with Norway's [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/hovland-viktor/lWxyqX2t/"]Viktor Hovland[/a]. Sweden's [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/aberg-ludvig/67ZVNhdN/"]Ludvig Aberg[/a] was another stroke adrift, and Colombian [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/nicolas-echavarria/Y7S9boTu/"]Nico Echavarria[/a], Americans [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/harman-brian/llYhTgVG/"]Brian Harman[/a] and [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/spieth-jordan/p0739Ny4/"]Jordan Spieth[/a] and England's [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/fleetwood-tommy/Svq63qoo/"]Tommy Fleetwood[/a], the reigning playoff champion, were on 134.[/p][embed guid="fe3e6d9a-cff5-4a09-9540-98c66dc663dd" url="https://x.com/PGATOUR/status/2088367664733245763" social-type="twitter" /][p]Im and Spieth are among the players outside the top 50 in season points needing to gain positions to qualify for next week's playoff event in St. Louis.[/p][p]Scheffler, a four-time major winner, won his season opener in January in the California desert for his 20th career PGA title, but he has settled for five runner-up finishes this year without another victory.[/p][p]Im seized the lead early in the second round, making birdies on the first three holes and five birdies on the front nine, which he opened and closed with 16-foot birdie putts.[/p][p]Scheffler birdied the first five holes, sinking putts from 12 and 19 feet on one and two, just outside two feet on the par-five third, and five feet on the fourth and fifth.[/p][p]"[b]I got off to a good start, those first couple of putts, and then kept the momentum going[/b]," Scheffler said.[/p][p]He birdied seven to share the lead but missed the green at the par-three eighth and made bogey. Again he grabbed a share of the lead with a seven-foot birdie putt at 10 but found water off the tee at 12 and made bogey to fall back.[/p][embed guid="45871c6c-0c6e-4ac4-8836-cc21ffb69c58" url="https://x.com/PGATOUR/status/2088380856335241275" social-type="twitter" /][p]"[b]When you are in the fairway out here you feel like you can attack some of these pins and when you're not you feel like you can bogey any hole[/b]," Scheffler said.[/p][p]Scheffler seized a share of the lead again on 13 when he blasted out of a fairway bunker to inside of five feet and sank the birdie putt.[/p][p]"[b]Hit at poor shot at 13 but was able to get out of the bunker there, hit a nice shot and give myself a look[/b]," Scheffler said.[/p][h2]'Struck ball nicely'[/h2][p]Scheffler swiped the solo lead with a birdie on 15 when he landed his approach just outside 10 feet and sank the putt, then added a tap-in birdie at the par-five 16th to reach 10-under.[/p][p]"[b]I struck the ball nicely today[/b]," Scheffler said. "[b]Hopefully I'll do more of that the next couple days[/b]."[/p][p]A 15-foot birdie putt at 17 made it three consecutive birdies for Scheffler, who missed a 16-foot birdie putt before parring to miss breaking the course record and matching his low round of the year.[/p][embed guid="b717da3e-7809-494e-90ad-7e303e801d21" url="https://x.com/PGATOUR/status/2088341873836388534" social-type="twitter" /][p]"[b]Was an underrated putt on 17. It was a really tough read[/b]," Scheffler said. "[b]Sometimes when they are so straight from that distance you want to find a break[/b]."[/p][p]Second-ranked [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/mcilroy-rory/djwanksN/"]Rory McIlroy[/a], last through 18 holes after Scotsman [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/macintyre-robert/SGvTWqfP/"]Robert MacIntyre[/a] withdrew due to a knee injury, fired a 70 to stand on 144.[/p][p]Germany's [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/schmid-matthias/viEydg9I/"]Matti Schmid[/a] aced the par-three fourth hole, the ball bouncing once and rolling in.[/p]