Keegan Bradley hits a shot during 2023 FedEx St Jude. Andy Lyons

Keegan Bradley enters this week’s BMW Championship at Olympia Fields Country Club in 11th place in the FedEx Cup standings and 11th in the US Ryder Cup standings. The latter depends on improving in the former. But guess which one means more to him. A lot more.

“I think about the Ryder Cup every second I’m awake basically,” Bradley said at Olympia Fields, where the second stage of the FedEx Cup playoffs on the PGA Tour begins Thursday. “My biggest thing right now is trying not to think about it while I’m playing because it’s important to me.

“The one spot I want to be on is on that Ryder Cup team. Wherever that is on the FedExCup, I’ll take it. It’s probably going to have to be higher than where I am now.”

Six automatic qualifiers for the US team will be determined at the end of this week. US captain Zach Johnson will add his six wild-card selections on August 29, two days after the Tour Championship. The six-time tour winner desperately hopes to make it on points and has no intention of lobbying Johnson for a spot.

“I think when you get in this position you’ve got to play well,” said the former PGA champion. “Zach and the captains aren’t going to … they’re not going to pick a player based on their pitch to be there.”

Bradley, 37, said he hungers to be on a winning team after playing for the US in losses in 2012 and 2014. The Vermont native went 3-1-0 in his debut at nearby Medinah Country Club, but his loss to Rory McIlroy in the third singles match on Sunday was part of a US meltdown as the European team rallied from a 10-6 deficit.

The winner of the Travelers Championship in June and the Zozo Championship in October, Bradley admits that he might be trying too hard to make the US team. He missed the cut at the Open Championship and finished 34th at last week’s FedEx St Jude Championship. It seems he can’t help himself.

“It’s the thing that I hate most about golf is the harder you try, the worse you play,” he said. “You talk about football players or basketball players, and that kid is just tough, he tries harder and he pushes. When your team is down, we’re going to put a little more effort in. In golf, you have to do pretty much the exact opposite. You’re always playing for something a little bit more, Ryder Cup or whatever it is, and my job this week is to go out and just play this tournament, and I know what’s going to be on my mind. It’s just reality.

“I’ll do my best to stick to my process, but it’ll be on my mind. I’ll be thinking of it.”

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Tommy Fleetwood did not capture his first PGA Tour win last week at the FedEx St Jude Championship, his 14-under four-day total falling a shot short of a playoff. However, his T-3 finish still bestowed a whopping $1,160,000 pay day, giving the Englishman an unwanted title of sorts.

Thanks to his performance in Memphis, Fleetwood became the first player in PGA Tour history to cross $20 million in earnings without a win to his credit.

Before the European golf cognoscenti lose their minds, yes, Fleetwood does have six wins on the DP World Tour. And the monetary figure is certainly aided by the influx of cash into the pro game. Despite zero victories on the season, Fleetwood boasts over $6.3 million in earnings in this campaign alone. We’re also going out on a limb and saying a lot of folks would happily take an “unwanted” label for $20 million in the bank account.

Fleetwood’s been so close to that elusive breakthrough win: According to stat guru Justin Ray, Fleetwood’s 22 top-five finishes on tour are the most of any PGA Tour player over the past 40 years without a victory.

“Of course it’s frustrating, but I think I have to look at it in a positive way, be proud of the golf I’m playing and the work that we’re doing,” Fleetwood said on Sunday. “I’ll keep playing the way that I have done, and again, so close today, and I think overall the performances even sort of when I’ve been in contention and in those last rounds, I haven’t done loads wrong, and I’m feeling very, very comfortable. It’s just trusting that it will happen and keep playing my game.”

Luckily for Fleetwood he’ll have two more chances against limited fields at this week’s BMW Championship (against just 49 other competitors) and the season finale at East Lake (30-player field). Fleetwood enters this week’s BMW ranked 10th in the FedEx Cup standings.

The post Tommy Fleetwood achieved an unwanted first in PGA Tour history last week appeared first on Golf Digest Middle East.

But while Cantlay’s story had a sad ending on this occasion, we want to focus on the positive. Specifically, his chip on the 10th hole.

Greenside in two shots on the long par 4, Cantlay took out a wedge and nudged his ball on to the green and watched as it trundled up into the hole. He gained almost an entire stroke on the field with one small swing of the club and it spurred Cantlay’s run up the leaderboard.

This wasn’t just a good shot, though. It was also an interesting shot. A clever one, that the rest of us can learn a lot from. So, let’s break it down.

Cantlay looks like he sets up to the ball with the ball back in his stance, and the shaft leaning forward slightly. But the most important thing you’ll notice is how he sets up with the ball more on the toe of his club. That’s important, as we’re about to see …

The perfect touch ?@Patrick_Cantlay joins @JordanSpieth in second place @FedExChamp. pic.twitter.com/1RX01LCeks

— PGA TOUR (@PGATOUR) August 13, 2023

As Cantlay swings through, you can see him impact the ball on the toe of his clubface. That does two important things:

• It deadens the shot, so the ball doesn’t come out as hot.
• It reduces backspin, so that when the ball lands, it starts rolling.

Patrick Cantlay. PGA Tour

The camera angle isn’t great here, but you can also see Cantlay is also swinging slightly from in-to-out, and that the clubface is a little closed to his target. He’s effectively hitting a miniature draw shot here, which is why you see his club track out to the right, but the ball jumps left almost immediately off the clubface.

This further reduces the amount of backspin on the ball.

Patrick Cantlay. PGA Tour

If Cantlay had taken a lower-lofted club and hit a conventional bump-and-run, he could’ve potentially hit this delicate shot too hard, and sent it running past the hole. But if he didn’t take measures to reduce the amount of backspin, his higher-lofted wedge would’ve grabbed the turf too soon and stopped short of the hole.

The spin-reducing moves paired with the higher-lofted wedge gives him the best of both. The ball lands on the fringe but has just enough horsepower to jump forward through it, then begin rolling like a putt.

It’s a clever shot, but not a complicated one. Keep it in mind for the next time you’re greenside with a little green to work with.

The post Patrick Cantlay’s crafty toe-draw chip shot — here’s how it works appeared first on Golf Digest Middle East.

The 18-inch putt he missed to lose in a playoff for a US Open berth might have crushed another player, but Lucas Glover wouldn’t let it beat him. He departed that US Open qualifier in Columbus, Ohio, in early June frustrated but still certain he was on the right path to curing his putting woes by switching to a long putter.

“Walking back to the car after missing that putt,” Glover recalled, “my dad [Jimmy] was there, and Tommy [Lamb, his caddie] was with me, obviously, and Tom just looked at me and goes: ‘I don’t really care that you missed that putt. This is a process with this new putter, and there’s going to be some bumps, but I can’t tell you how much better you look and how much more confident you look.’ I needed to hear that at that moment, even though I was kind of dejected.”

Glover ventured north the next morning to the RBC Canadian Open and started to see results he was looking for. He wasn’t shaky over short putts. He took a step forward. His stubborn belief in himself was rewarded.

“That was a big week for me,” Glover said. “Yeah, that’s when I started to feel really good about what I was doing. I finished 20th. Finishing 20th sucks now, but it was nice at the time.”

Glover laughed at the thought. He’s having the last laugh a lot lately.

On an oppressively warm afternoon in the home of the blues, Glover refused to buckle, even as his swing was deserting him and World No. 4 Patrick Cantlay was stalking him. Thanks to a series of big putts in regulation and one solid hole in a sudden-death playoff, Glover won for the second time in as many weeks on Sunday, capturing the FedEx St Jude Championship at TPC Southwind.

The victory, worth $3.6 million, was the sixth of his career and continued an amazing run for the 43-year-old South Carolina native who in June wasn’t even in the running to keep his PGA Tour card.

In the playoff, Cantlay, seeking his fourth win in his last six playoff starts, pulled his tee shot left at the par-4 18th hole and watched it trickle into the water hazard, costing him a penalty stroke. Glover, after safely finding the fairway and the green, two-putted from 22 feet and then watched as Cantlay, putting from almost the same distance and line, burned the right edge on his par save.

Coming on the heels of his win last Sunday at the Wyndham Championship, the victory in the opening FedEx Cup playoff event made the former US Open champion the sixth player over age 40 to win back-to-back tournaments in the last 40 years. Vijay Singh did it three times, most recently in 2008 when he won the FedEx St Jude Championship and Dell Technologies Championship. Glover also is the first player over 40 to win a playoff event since Tiger Woods at the 2018 Tour Championship.

“I said yesterday that the big guns would be coming and they came. I was just the last man standing,” Glover said after converting for the first time in 10 tries with a 36-hole lead thanks to a closing one-under 69. He finished at 15-under 265, while Cantlay stormed into the playoff thanks to a bogey-free 64.

Last man standing.@Lucas_Glover_ takes the victory @FedExChamp despite being chased by three former #FedExCup champions. pic.twitter.com/aiC1goWqya

— PGA TOUR (@PGATOUR) August 14, 2023

“Yeah, just hooked the ball a little too much off the tee, bad shot, obviously, and paid the price,” Cantlay, winless this season but winner of the last two editions of the BMW Championship, said of the playoff hole. “It’s been a long year, so I’m looking forward to the next two weeks and the opportunity I have.”

Glover arrived last week at the Wyndham 114th in the FedEx Cup standings and moved into the post-season 49th. He now advances to the BMW Championship at Olympia Fields in fourth place and with a realistic chance to win the $18-million bonus for the season-long title.

“I mean, if you would have told me this three months ago, I’d tell you you’re crazy. But at the same time, if you asked me legitimately did I think I was capable, I’d say yes, even then,” said Glover, who has risen from 119th to 53rd to 30th in the Official World Golf Ranking the last two weeks. “It’s just one of those sad ways athletes are wired. We always believe in ourselves no matter how bad it is.”

Rejuvenated thanks to switching to a long putter at the Memorial Tournament that was similar to the one Adam Scott had been using, Glover had a chance to win the tournament in regulation but left a 21-foot birdie putt a foot short at 18. He struggled with his full swing for much of the day, but the putter bailed him out time and again. He converted par saves of seven, 20 and 11 feet on his inward nine plus a 29-foot bogey putt after finding the water at the par-3 14th.

“Today it was a fight. It was a physical fight. I was fighting my swing and wasn’t hitting it great,” Glover said. “My short game was there, and that’s the only reason I’m sitting here now is my chipping and putting yesterday and today.”

Glover began the day one stroke ahead of Taylor Moore, who proceeded to bogey his first two holes to allow breathing room. Jordan Spieth converted two early birdies to get within one, and Tommy Fleetwood also made a run at Glover, but neither ever caught him.

Cantlay finally did, however. Having begun the day five back, the 2021 FedEx Cup champion slowly worked his way up the board and also got within two when he chipped in from 24 feet at the par-4 10th. He sprang into the lead with birdies at 15 and 16, but he couldn’t capitalise on birdie tries of 18 and 20 feet, respectively, on the final two holes. Glover’s tap-in birdie at the par-5 16th set up extra holes.

Playing alongside Cantlay, Rory McIlroy birdied the last for a bogey-free 65 to end up tied for third with Fleetwood, who shot 68 but missed birdie tries on his final two holes that could have tied Cantlay.

The top three in the FedEx Cup standings remained the same with Jon Rahm, Scottie Scheffler and McIlroy. Glover and Cantlay round out the top five.

In the race for the top 50 and the second leg of the playoffs at the BMW Championship, two men earned their way in and two fell out. Cam Davis closed with a three-under 67 and finished in a large group at 11-under 269, good for T-5, to move from 62 to 44. Former Masters winner Hideki Matsuyama played his final six holes in five under par for a clutch 65 and 281 to end up T-16, lifting him 10 places to 47th.

Top 50 status also earns exemptions into the eight 2024 signature events in 2024.

The odd men out were Mackenzie Hughes (51) and Nick Hardy (52), who began the week 47th and 50th, respectively.

Glover is now a lock for the Tour Championship at East Lake. He was asked what this unlikely run says about him.

“Maybe I’m really stubborn,” Glover replied. “You know, 10 years up until this run, I’ve underachieved and knew it. It was all because of putting. I won the [John] Deere [Classic, in 2021] because I hit it in the grip a bunch for a week basically and snuck them in somehow.

“Yeah, it was just believing in myself, and hard-headed and stubborn enough to not give up. Never really thought about it, honestly. It was just, I’ll figure it out, and it took something drastic to figure it out, but it’s worked, obviously.”

Quite obviously.

The post Glover bags the win at FedEx St Jude appeared first on Golf Digest Middle East.

On Friday at TPC Southwind, Argotsinger was pressed into duty again as a caddie, this time for four-time tour winner Harris English in the middle of the second round of the FedEx St Jude Championship. When English’s regular caddie, Eric Larsen, got wobbly from heat exhaustion on the second tee, their 11th hole of the day, Putnam pointed English in the direction of Argotsinger, the head pro at nearby Windyke Country Club.

“I had just gotten there when they were making the turn, so I walked the first hole, and then on the second tee I saw Eric take a knee,” Argotsinger said. “Next thing you know, Andrew [Putnam] is telling Harris, ‘Hey, I know this guy can caddie.’ And there we went. It was pretty surreal.”

Larsen, who has caddied for English for the last six years, said he had not eaten much and drank only Gatorade throughout the day as temperatures soared into the 90s and the heat index peaked at 119. Once the heat index exceeds 100, caddies are allowed to remove their bibs, but Larsen hadn’t yet done so when he bent over to tie his shoe on the second tee and felt woozy when he stood up straight. He was taken to the clubhouse and received a saline IV, and by the time English holed out for a one-over 71, Larsen was up and walking around.

“I’m glad he stopped when he did and didn’t keep going ‘cause it could have gotten bad if he kept pressing,” said English. “It’s tough out there. Really brutal. I grew up in South Georgia, and I think it’s the hottest I’ve ever felt on a golf course.”

Argotsinger, 29, said that English kept it light and did most of the yardages himself, and that he didn’t have to do too much except carry the bag, “though I did suggest he change clubs on the last hole. He hit it to eight feet and made birdie.”

A native of Kansas City, Missouri, Argotsinger attended Mississippi State to earn his PGA Golf Management degree. He’s been head pro at Windyke for six years but has had an opportunity to play TPC Southwind several times. His best score is 72, though he never has had to play it when it’s set up for the tour’s first FedEx Cup Playoff event. But walking the fairways with English, Putnam and Eric Cole was way more fun.

“How many guys get to walk inside the ropes and talk to these guys during a PGA Tour round? Yeah, it was a pretty incredible day,” he said.

As he spoke, Argotsinger had two souvenir Yetis tucked under his arm. Larsen also slipped him $100 for his efforts. “I told him to go have a nice dinner,” Larsen said. “Hey, he bailed me out.”

English offered to get him tickets for the final two rounds, but Argotsinger couldn’t accept.

“Nope,” he said. “I have to go back to work tomorrow.”

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This Lucas Glover fellow is hot. Riding the wave hot. Hitting on all cylinders hot. Maybe US Ryder Cup captain Zach Johnson should take a look at him hot.

On a steamy day in the city known as the “Home of the Blues”, Glover was red-hot, a carry over from his impressive victory last weekend at the Wyndham Championship. His bogey-free six-under 64 at TPC Southwind was the low round of the day and propelled him to the 36-hole lead in the FedEx St Jude Championship by one over Jordan Spieth at 10-under 130.

Glover’s last six rounds have been 66-64-62-68-66-64. He has posted 20 consecutive rounds of par or better. In his last five starts, Glover has had four finishes of sixth or better (the other was a missed cut at the 3M Open) as he’s progressed from a 43-year-old veteran with a glitchy putting stroke who resided outside the top 150 on the FedEx Cup points to a very confident golfer making a serious bid for the FedEx Cup title.

When he switched to a long putter at the Memorial Tournament, Glover was 184th on the FedEx Cup points list. His run to the Wyndham title made him one of the more unlikely participants to reach the top 70 and a postseason berth. If he were to win again this week — and, granted, he’s only halfway home with 13 players within three shots of his pace — he’d advance to the second stage at the BMW Championship in third place in the standings.

He came into the week 49th. At Wyndham, he was 112th.

The 2009 US Open champion can’t remember a time he has ever played better. “But I’m old enough,” he said, “to know it can change the other way in a hurry, too, so kind of ride the wave and just don’t overthink it, keep going, and play until it runs out and then figure it out after that.”

More than once he said he was going to keep “riding the wave” and “not overthink it,” and, really, what else is a guy supposed to say when he has finally conquered the yips and is now a very troublesome interloper on the playoff scene.

But it’s not just the putter that has Glover humming along. He only ranks 36th in strokes gained in that category through two rounds. But he is first in strokes gained/approach the green at plus-5.675 and first in proximity to the hole with a cumulative average of 21 feet, nine inches.

“I’m executing pretty much what I’m seeing,” said the South Carolina native. “Don’t overthink it and no need to change anything, just keep riding it.”

See, there he goes again.

But we really can’t blame him. As Glover explained, “This game is cruel, man. You can play nice and just get cruddy results, and then you can kind of hit it bad and get a couple good breaks and get some good results.”

In other words, don’t take things for granted. Glover is 0-for-9 in converting a 36-hole lead into a victory. So, there’s that.

Earlier in the day, tour player Michael Kim tweeted on X (formerly Twitter), “Uhhh, Lucas Glover for Ryder Cup?”

Glover hadn’t seen it. “That’s very nice of him to say.”

But, seriously, don’t you want the hot hand on your side? Glover is so hot that he didn’t mind how hot it was as the heat index soared to 119 degrees, though he did sweat a little. “I didn’t get this wet in the shower this morning,” he quipped.

“The hotter the better. I’m old,” he later added.

The hotter the better is right.

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Tom Kim v trousers is a rivalry for the ages. It’s the Liverpool v Man United of sartorial showdowns. The Red Sox-Yankees of fashion fails. Kim burst on to the scene (literally) at last year’s Presidents Cup when he split his trousers not once but twice at Quail Hollow. Then at the PGA Championship, Kim did his best Swamp Thing impression when he slipped in a creek attempting a treacherous recovery shot, getting caked in mud from the Nike swoosh down.

Since then we’ve been watching and waiting for Kim’s next run-in with a pair of slacks, which finally arrived at the FedEx St Jude Championship on Thursday when Kim made his playoff debut dressed like he was headed to a regatta …

Tom Kim. Gregory Shamus

As is seemingly the case with all things Tom Kim, the internet was simultaneously mystified and magnetized by the South Korean’s bold new look.

What a look from Tom Kim pic.twitter.com/dZQTxfRyCy

— Christopher Powers (@CPowers14) August 10, 2023

Tom Kim going with an interesting look with the pants today pic.twitter.com/6B0V3m3Mtx

— Eli Savoie (@Eli560) August 10, 2023

Mr Tom Kim… what’re we doing with the pants there my guy? @NoLayingUp pic.twitter.com/Qhwx2kObEB

— Steve Valerio (@steve_valerio) August 10, 2023

What in all things holy is Tom Kim wearing today? Are they rolled up? Does this have something to do with his ankle? I'm beyond confused

— Rich Cuthbertson (@rcubDFS) August 10, 2023

It’s a valid question, but we honestly don’t know. Maybe the swelling from Kim’s twisted ankle still hasn’t gone down enough to squeeze into those finely tailored pantaloons. Maybe men’s capris are making a comeback for fall/winter 2023. Maybe he’s just showing his dreaded khaki adversaries who’s boss once and for all. We’ll have to wait and see …

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The 2023 FedEx Cup will have a prize money pool of $75 million. That’s a solid amount for most. It’s mere pennies if you’re Taylor Swift, however, as her Eras Tour is on track to become the first $1 billion concert series. Potentially rising to as much as $1.4 billion down the road.

A worldwide phenomenon, the stadium sets are attracting hundreds of thousands of fans to each venue and feature Swift putting on a three-hour-plus performance multiple times a week. Perhaps as inspiration (or just because he’s a devoted Swiftie), Homa and the rest of his family found time before the FedEx St Jude Championship to check out this spectacle.

@lacehoma The quickest family trip to LA to see the Eras Tour from my pov! Thank you to our sweet friends for making every detail happen! Dream come true ??? #erastour #erastourla #taylorswift #taylorswifterastour ♬ …Ready For It? – Taylor Swift

What we have is quite the outing as Max, Lacey and their son Cam made their way to SoFi Stadium to take in the eighth wonder of the world while donning hand-made friendship bracelets and Swift merch. As one does.

From the TikTok, it seems like the Homas were able to finagle darn good seats, which is an impressive feat even for the No. 7 golfer in the world. Being able to get inside the building is an accomplishment in and of itself given Ticketmaster at this point.

The only negative for Homa is that his wife put him on blast for catching a few zeds during the show.

Max takes a break during Taylor Swift concert. Lacey Homa Instagram

If Taylor Swift can survive for three hours sprinting around, remembering intricate choreography and shaking it off, a professional athlete has no excuse to sit down. “Shady that u put me sitting in this video,” commented Max to which Lacey replied: “??”.

We’ll let it slide though as the “Starbucks Lovers” shirt is a strong look, especially since 1989 (Taylor’s version) is right around the corner.

 

View this post on Instagram

 

A post shared by Max Homa (@max.homa)

Two golf compatriots made sure to comment on Homa’s Insta as well. “You have an open invitation to a T Swift group me I’m in. Just say the word,” Smylie Kaufman said. “Well we know what your walkout music is going to be next year at the Zurich,” Shane Bacon added.

It looks as if the entire Homa family made it back home at 9.19am the following morning, which is certainly impressive. The guy has some big-time golf to prepare for, and maybe witnessing the Eras Tour is exactly what Homa needed to get ready for the final stretch of the PGA Tour season.

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The restaurant in Lahaina, Hawaii, has long been out of business, but now the building that housed the Morikawa Restaurant is gone, too.

Wednesday’s deadly wildfires that destroyed Front Street at the popular tourist destination on Maui and killed at least 36 people hit Collin Morikawa harder than many people looking on from afar. Morikawa’s fraternal grandparents were born in historic Lahaina Town, and, yes, the Morikawa Restaurant, believed to have been in existence in the 1950s and 1960s was owned by his family. He still has relatives who live there, while many others have moved to Oahu.

“It’s devastating what we’ve been able to … what we’ve been seeing. The before-and-after photos are just heartbreaking, knowing that my entire dad’s side of the family grew up there,” Morikawa said on Thursday after completing his opening round in the St Jude FedEx Championship. “My grandparents were born in Lahaina. We had the restaurant out there. That’s what the photo was. We went there as kids. It’s a special place. It’s amazing how many things you take for granted really in life, and when you see that, it’s just heartbreaking.”

?#WATCH: As Satellite Imagery Reveals Devastation from Maui Fire as multiple Buildings, and Lives Lost
⁰?#Maui | #Hawaii
⁰The Maui Fire destroyed the town of Lahaina, causing significant devastation. Satellite imagery shows the before and after pictures, highlighting the… pic.twitter.com/KxdKdKUBfZ

— R A W S A L E R T S (@rawsalerts) August 11, 2023

A native of Los Angeles, Morikawa remembers visiting Lahaina, and, of course, he’s asked about his ties to west Maui every January when he competes in the Sentry Tournament of Champions at Kapalua Resort, where earlier this year he finished runner-up to Jon Rahm.

He said he woke up to the news and saw the devastation and knew that the building where the restaurant was located — he thinks it was most recently a jewellery store — was razed. Fire officials said more than 270 structures were damaged or destroyed, including a 200-year-old church.

Morikawa believed that his extended family members were all right, but “to see how many people have passed away from that, yeah, it’s … I’m at a loss for words”.

But not at a loss for finding a way to help.

Over the course of the three-event FedEx Cup Playoffs, Morikawa is donating $1,000 to charity for every birdie he converts. He logged six on Thursday in a five-under 65 that left him tied for third, two strokes behind Jordan Spieth. The money, he said, will go to Maui United Way and World Central Kitchen, “to help out not just people in Maui but obviously hopefully people in Hawaii because it’s everywhere”.

 

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A post shared by Collin Morikawa (@collin_morikawa)

Winless since the 2021 British Open, Morikawa, 26, likes to think of the gesture as giving him extra motivation.

“Yeah, look, I want to make a lot of birdies for them,” he said. “One of our friends texted me, and they’re like: ‘OK, $100,000.’ I’m like, shoot, 100 birdies in three tournaments? I don’t know if that’s ever been done. But it would be a great feat to say the least.”

He hopes his peers will follow suit, and he plans to ask his sponsors to help, too, seeing how the PGA Tour has a tournament annually at Kapalua’s Plantation Course.

“It’s one of the best places in the world we travel to year in and year out to go to Kapalua, play golf there,” he said. “I’m going to be pushing hard to make those birdies, and hopefully everyone else can reach out and help out as much as they can.”

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All hail Jordan Spieth, who just gave every golf enthusiast a lifetime hall pass. It turns out, ladies and gentlemen, that a surefire way to play better golf is to play more golf. Who knew? If it’s good enough for a three-time major winner, then it’s good enough for the rest of us.

Spieth cobbled together a seven-under-par 63 on Thursday at TPC Southwind to forge a one-stroke lead in the FedEx St Jude Championship. It was a rather tidy round, too, notwithstanding the squishy turf from more than two inches of rain the previous 24 hours that provided a tell-tale sign who played well and who didn’t. Slacks with a minimum of mud stains generally indicated considerable time spent on fairways and greens. (Jon Rahm had mud splattered up to his knees; he shot three-over, so, there you go.)

Spieth was bogey-free with 15 greens hit in regulation and 24 putts the highlights of his day. He ranked second in strokes gained/tee to green. He chipped in for eagle at the par-5 16th. Clean round, clean card.

Coming off a T-23 finish at the Open Championship, where he struck the ball well but scored in rather mediocre fashion, Spieth retreated home to Dallas and decided that practice is overrated. In his case, he figured he just needed to play more.

“I tried to play a lot just to shoot scores,” said Spieth, who had outings with World No. 1 Scottie Scheffler and Tom Kim, the latter who stands second alone one stroke behind Spieth. “I had kind of taken off playing a bunch, and I think that that helped a bit in the last couple weeks [to play more].

“I did that a ton in the spring, and then when I had kind of my wrist thing [prior to the PGA Championship], I was trying to rest,” he added. “I just found that I wasn’t playing a ton in that break between US Open and Scottish Open, and so I just got to the Scottish, and I felt like things were good, but I just wasn’t scoring, so it was pretty frustrating. Some of that just has to do with knocking putts in, and some of it has to do with actually getting out there and not just being on a driving range or a putting green. I felt like the more I’m playing at home and not having to work on a ton of stuff, the better it comes out to the course here.”

It’s worth noting that Spieth, 30, posted five top-six finishes in the spring, including T-4 at the Masters and a playoff loss the following week to Matt Fitzpatrick at the RBC Heritage.

His coach, Cameron McCormick, endorsed the idea to the extent that he suggested Spieth even travel outside Dallas to find some games. Fortunately, there’s plenty of competition at home.

“This isn’t new. I just hadn’t done a ton of it in the last month or so,” he said.

Spieth conceded that he had “a couple of nice rounds” at Maridoe, a testing Steve Smyers design in nearby Carrollton, Texas. They were nice enough, in fact, that he was smiling when he was asked how he made out financially — because to make it interesting and get the blood flowing a little, there has to be something on the line against “friends”.

“Just fine. Yeah, just fine,” he replied, grinning.

The payoff could be sweeter if he can maintain that form throughout the weekend.

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