FedEx St. Jude Championship R1 | Rory McIlroy sluggish as Kim leads
Rory McIlroy got off to a sluggish start to the PGA Tour's postseason at the FedEx St. Jude Championship at TPC Southwind.
Rory McIlroy got off to a slow start to the PGA Tour's postseason as Si Woo Kim took charge of the FedEx St. Jude Championship.
McIlroy, 33, admitted that after his disappointment of letting the 150th Open Championship slip through his hands he took two weeks off.
He did not touch a club, nor did he eat a vegetable. Perhaps the comfort food he was consuming have made him a little bit sluggish here in Memphis.
TPC Southwind is known for its difficulty. The Northern Irishman got off to a poor start by making bogey at the first hole.
Another bogey followed at No.6. The back nine was a similar story. A mixed bag. Two bogeys, two birdies and he eventually carded a level par opener.
Kim, on the other hand, did not struggle one bit. He flourished and carded an opening round of 8-under 62 to share the lead with J.J. Spaun.
Kim, 27, has still not completed his military service. After this season he could be out of action for a little while.
Had he got into the medals at the 2020 Olympics he would have been exempt.
The leaders are being chased by the impressive Sahith Theegala, who is trying to chase down Cameron Young as the Tour's Rookie of The Year.
Theegala opened with a 63. The in-form Tony Finau, coming into the postseason with back-to-back victories, is two strokes of the lead.
More: Cameron Young inclined to snub LIV Golf, claims report
Patrick Cantlay, the reigning FedEx Cup champion is three strokes adrift.
Perhaps the most surprising aspect from the first round was Rickie Fowler's return to form.
Fowlers opening 65 was his lowest opening round on the PGA Tour since last July's 3M Open.
He did not even expect to be here and made the FedEx Cup Playoffs on the number by virtue of the LIV Golf players' suspensions.
Still, a brand new putter in the bag appears to have paid immediate dividends for one of the most popular PGA Tour players.
Speaking of LIV Golf, perhaps Scottie Scheffler is not too happy with Cameron Smith. The pair were involved in an incident.
Scheffler walked in front of Smith on the 12th green, their third hole of the round and Smith was a bit baffled by the behaviour of the Masters champ.
Was he walking on his line? You'd think not. You'd hope not. Still, it was wildly entertaining and resulted in a social media brouhaha.
Smith, later speaking to Sky Sports, did not exactly do himself any favours when talking about the situation.
He told presented Nick Dougherty that he was "ready to cop some heat" in what could be perceived as a nod to his future path.
Leaderboard after 18 holes:
Si Woo Kim, J.J. Spaun -8
Sahith Theegala -7
J.T. Poston, Tony Finau, K.H. Lee, Sepp Straka, Troy Merritt -6
Tyrrell Hatton, Sam Burns -5
Selected others:
Viktor Hovland, Justin Thomas, Cameron Smith, Collin Morikawa, Jon Rahm -3
Matt Fitzpatrick, Xander Schauffele -2
Shane Lowry -1
Rory McIlroy, Jordan Spieth E
Scottie Scheffler, Will Zalatoris +1
