Spaun seizes lead, Scheffler and Mcilroy miss cut at St Jude Championship

The tournament is the opener of the Fedex Cup playoffs, a season-ending trio of events with a winner’s prize of $18 million. Only 125 players qualified on season points and only the top 70 advance to next week’s BMW Championship

JJ Spaun sank two late clutch puts to fire a three-under par 67 and take a one-stroke lead ater Friday’s second round of the US PGA Tour’s St. Jude Championship.

The 31-year-old American sank a 13-foot birdie put on his penultimate hole then closed with a seven-foot par put to stand on 11-under 129 at TPC Southwind in Memphis, Tennessee.

“I fe e l good. It’s exciting,” Spa un sa id. “Still a lot of Golf let. Just going to try to keep doing what I’ve been doing the last two days and hopefully it will pay off.”

Austrian Sepp Straka, who missed six consecutive cuts entering the event, shared second on 130 with American Troy Merrit and American Denny Mccarthy another stroke adrit.

British Open champion Cameron Smith of Australia shared fith on 132 with Americans Brian Harman, Ryan Palmer and Tony Finau.

The tournament is the opener of the Fedex Cup playoffs, a season-ending trio of events with a winner’s prize of $18 million.

Only 125 players qualified on season points and only the top 70 advance to next week’s BMW Cha mpionship, whe re the 30 qua lifie rs for the Tour Championship in Atlanta are decided.

Spaun won his first US PGA title at the Texas Open in April ater 147 tour starts and took aim at his second when he began on the back nine.

He ma de a pa r put a t the 10th from just outside seven feet but couldn’t duplicate the feat from the same distance at 12 and made bogey. Spaun answered with birdie puts from just inside 12 feet at 13 and just outside seven feet at the par-5 16th.

Spaun rolled in a birdie put from just outside five feet at the first and chipped inches from the cup at the par-5 third to set up a tap-in birdie to seize the lead. Spaun found a bunker off the seventh tee on his way to a bogey, but made a 13-foot birdie put at the par-3 eighth and closed with another solid par put. Straka birdied four of the last five holes to shoot 66.

Me rrit sa nk a n e a gle put from just inside 15 fe e t at the par-5 16th to shoot his second straight 65.

Mccarthy, chasing his first PGA title, birdied three of the first four holes then holed out for eagle from 153 yards at the par-4 sixth.

“As I hit it I knew it was good. I didn’t know it was going to be that good,” Mccarthy said. “Always nice to have a bonus hole out like that.”

Mccarthy found water on his approach at 18 and closed with a bogey to shoot 65.

Four-time major winner Rory Mcilroy missed the weekend ater a 69 to stand on 139, one over the cut line. Top-ranked Masters champion Scottie Scheffler suffered his fourth missed cup of the season,a68leavinghimon139aswell,buthekept the season points lead.

South Korean Kim Si-woo, who shared the 18hole lead with Spaun on 62, stumbled back with a 73 to stand on 135, as did reigning Fedex Cup champion Patrick Cantlay ater a 68.

UNDER-PRESSURE GREEN HANGS ON AS PHACHARA MAKES MOVE IN SINGAPORE: Thailand’s Phachara Khongwatmai moved to take a sha re of the third-round le a d with Ma la ysia ’s Ga vin Green ater signing for a three-under-par 69 at the International Series Singapore on Saturday.

Green, who held an overnight three-shot lead, could not extend his advantage further as he succumbed to pressure and returned with a 72 at the Asian Tour sanctioned event.

The Singapore tournament is also part of the new International Series that received US$400 million in funding from the Saudi-backed LIV.

Ater carding identical rounds of 65 in the first two da ys, Gre e n a dmite d to struggling on the third.

“I’m not going to lie. There is pressure. I was trying to push away, it was just hard, I could not get anything going,” said the Malaysian.

Unlike his first two da ys, which we re boge y-fre e and saw 14 birdies, Green only made one birdie on eight, while dropping his first shot of the week on the par-four 13.

“Itwassuchagrind.icouldn’tgetanythinggoing. Golf is not a game where you can be perfect all the time. But we are still in it, as there are still 18 more holes to go,” said Green.