World No. 1 Scottie Scheffler delivered a stunning second-round 61 at the FedEx St. Jude Championship, seizing control of the PGA Tour’s FedExCup playoff opener. He holed roughly 54 feet of putts, birdied six of his first seven holes and finished the day with three straight birdies to post a nine-under 61 and open a three-shot cushion halfway through the event.
The performance marked a sharp reversal after a frustrating opening round in Memphis, when Scheffler took 33 putts and felt he had left too many chances unconverted. He said he felt he had played better than his score on Thursday and that Friday’s round got a lot more out of his game.
Rory McIlroy had another difficult day. After a poor first round left him at four over, McIlroy could not recover on Friday and bogeyed the 17th and 18th to remain at four over — about 15 shots back of Scheffler.
Scotland’s Robert MacIntyre withdrew from the tournament, citing a knee injury after an opening round of 12 over.
How the FedExCup Playoffs work: Over the season players collect FedExCup points based on finishes in PGA Tour events, with extra points awarded at signature events and majors. The top 70 in the standings qualified for the FedEx St. Jude Championship (Aug 13–16); the top 50 after this event advance to the BMW Championship (Aug 20–23), and the top 30 then move on to the season finale, the Tour Championship (Aug 27–30). Winners of the first two playoff events receive 750 points each (the same as a major), and points are reset ahead of the Tour Championship. The starting-strokes format used in prior years was discontinued in 2025, so all players begin the Tour Championship at even par. The Tour Championship winner is crowned the FedExCup champion, earning $10 million and a five-year PGA Tour exemption.
Live coverage of the FedEx St. Jude Championship continues on Saturday with broadcast windows starting at 4pm on Sky Sports Golf and Sky Sports Main Event, with streaming options also available.