The penultimate round of the FedEx St. Jude Championship will kick off in a few hours! After a grueling second round, Chris Kirk, who entered the field with the solo lead, is now tied for a T10 with Will Zalatoris at a 6-under. On the other hand, Denny McCarthy, who was holding a spot in the Top 5, has taken the lead right ahead of the Saturday round.
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Tying with him is Hideki Matsuyama, who was just one position ahead of him before the Friday round began. They are currently at 11-under, one stroke ahead of Sam Burns, who holds the No. 3 spot on the leaderboard. What drama does the third round at the TPC Southwind hold?
The Saturday round in Memphis, unlike the first two rounds, will be a pairing of three players each teeing off, except for the last two pairs teeing off from the back nine (Mark Hubbard-Si Woo Kim and Jake Knapp-Max Homa). On one hand, Adam Scott, Sepp Straka, and Maverick McNealy will open the field on the front nine at 10:45 a.m. ET.
On the other hand, Alex Noren, Davis Thompson, and Matthieu Pavon will be teeing off simultaneously, but on the back nine. Each pairing has approximately a gap of eleven minutes between the tee times. Here’s what the final field for the penultimate round looks like:
| TIME | TEE | PLAYERS |
| 10:45 AM EDT |
1 | Adam Scott Sepp Straka Maverick McNealy |
| 10:45 AM EDT |
10 | Alex Noren Davis Thompson Matthieu Pavon |
| 10:56 AM EDT |
1 | Wyndham Clark Seamus Power Eric Cole |
| 10:56 AM EDT |
10 | Shane Lowry Min Woo Lee Keegan Bradley |
| 11:07 AM EDT |
1 | Austin Eckroat Justin Thomas Akshay Bhatia |
| 11:07 AM EDT |
10 | J.T. Poston Corey Conners Jason Day |
| 11:18 AM EDT |
1 | Tommy Fleetwood Taylor Pendrith Emiliano Grillo |
| 11:18 AM EDT |
10 | Tom Hoge Patrick Cantlay Byeong Hun An |
| 11:29 AM EDT |
1 | Christiaan Bezuidenhout Russell Henley Ben Griffin |
| 11:29 AM EDT |
10 | Sahith Theegala Victor Perez Cam Davis |
| 11:40 AM EDT |
1 | Brendon Todd Harris English Nick Taylor |
| 11:40 AM EDT |
10 | Sungjae Im Ludvig Åberg Collin Morikawa |
| 11:51 AM EDT |
1 | Xander Schauffele Tom Kim Brian Harman |
| 11:51 AM EDT |
10 | Peter Malnati Patrick Rodgers Stephan Jaeger |
| 12:02 PM EDT |
1 | Matt Fitzpatrick Aaron Rai Tony Finau |
| 12:02 PM EDT |
10 | Taylor Moore Mackenzie Hughes Cameron Young |
| 12:13 PM EDT |
1 | Erik van Rooyen Will Zalatoris Chris Kirk |
| 12:13 PM EDT |
10 | Rory McIlroy Adam Hadwin Thomas Detry |
| 12:24 PM EDT |
1 | Viktor Hovland Robert MacIntyre Billy Horschel |
| 12:24 PM EDT |
10 | Jhonattan Vegas Jordan Spieth Max Greyserman |
| 12:35 PM EDT |
1 | Scottie Scheffler Justin Rose Nick Dunlap |
| 12:35 PM EDT |
10 | Mark Hubbard Si Woo Kim |
| 12:46 PM EDT |
1 | Denny McCarthy Hideki Matsuyama Sam Burns |
| 12:46 PM EDT |
10 | Jake Knapp Max Homa |
If there is one thing that has been bothering the players at the St. Jude Championship, it is the heat index. Well, this was the case last year, when the heat index rose to a whopping 111 degrees in the second round. This year, it was a 107, and well, golfers even on top of the leaderboard struggled through.
Denny McCarthy playing through an injury
31-year-old Denny McCarthy is yet to grab his first PGA Tour victory. With an impressive run this season, a runner-up finish at the Valero Texas Open, a T6 finish at the Wells Fargo Championship, and a T7 at the John Deere Classic, there are chances that he might finally achieve it this year! However, the Memphis heat has been causing a lot of problems for him.
He altered his swing, as he has been suffering from a torn labrum in his hip, to win through a round of two bogeys and nine birdies. “I don’t want to divulge too much. It’s bothering me, and I’ve been able to do enough the last few days to push through it. Like I said, the heat helps it. Yeah, looking forward to a challenge on the weekend,” he said. Despite the heat index rising and a predicted thunderstorm on Saturday, do you think McCarthy will be able to lift his first trophy on the tour after coming this close? Stay tuned to find out!