Harris English opened with a sizzling round of 8-under 62 to secure a two-shot lead after day one of the WGC-FedEx St Jude Invitational.
The 32-year-old Georgia native got off to a dream start at TPC Southwind, reeling off four consecutive birdies out of the gate, then adding three more gains on Nos. 6, 7, and 9 to turn on 7-under 28. He would drop two shots with bogeys on 10 and 12 but then closed with three more birdies on his final four holes to grab the 18-hole marquee position.
“Yeah, I mean, got off to a good start, hit it pretty close to No. 1, had a little downhill slider. Made a pretty long one on 2 and then it’s almost like, all right, got a par-5 coming up on No. 3 and had a nice up-and-down there,” said English, who hit 15 of 18 greens in regulation.
“It was just one of those rounds where I was hitting it really good off the tee, making a lot of good putts and my speed was really good.
“I’ve been working on my speed the last couple days. These greens were a lot faster than what I was practicing on back home, so I did a lot of speed work and I feel like it paid off today.”
A foursome of Ian Poulter, Matthew Wolff, Carlos Ortiz and Jim Herman were tied for second on 6-under 64.
Poulter, who finished bogey-free on the day, cited motivation to make the European Ryder Cup team for his good play on Thursday.
“Playing well this week would take care of that. If I can keep swimming my way through, great,” said Poulter, who many say is already a lock to make the team.
“There’s obviously Wentworth [BMW PGA Championship] in a few weeks’ time as well, which is obviously when the table gets seemed and obviously Paddy [Captain Padraig Harrington] has his picks.
“For me it’s about playing hard and obviously trying to push my way in.”
One further back was a trio that included Bryson DeChambeau, Scottie Scheffler and Marc Leishman.
Daniel Berger, a two-time winner in Memphis, was among four players tied for ninth at 4-under 66.
2021 WGC-FedEx St. Jude Invitational
Leaderboard: Top 10
Pos-Player-To Par-(Score)
1. Harris English -8 (62)
2. Ian Poulter -6 (64)
2. Carlos Ortiz -6 (64)
2. Jim Herman -6 (64)
2. Matthew Wolff -6 (64)
6. Bryson DeChambeau -5 (65)
6. Scottie Scheffler -5 (65)
6. Marc Leishman -5 (65)
9. Daniel Berger -4 (66)
9. Will Zalatoris -4 (66)
9. Max Homa -4 (66)
9. Sam Burns -4 (66)
Notables
13. Justin Thomas -3 (67)
13. Collin Morikawa -3 (67)
13. Tyrrell Hatton -3 (67)
13. Lee Westwood -3 (67)
13. Louis Oosthuizen -3 (67)
26. Patrick Reed -2 (68)
26. Shane Lowry -2 (68)
26. Paul Casey -2 (68)
26. Stewart Cink -2 (68)
36. Xander Schauffele -1 (69)
36. Justin Rose -1 (69)
36. Tony Finau -1 (69)
36. Phil Mickelson -1 (69)
36. Dustin Johnson -1 (69)
36. Tommy Fleetwood -1 (69)
46. Sergio Garcia E (70)
46. Joaquin Niemann E (70)
46. Matt Fitzpatrick E (70)
46. Brooks Koepka E (70)
55. Webb Simpson +1 (71)
55. Patrick Cantlay +1 (71)
55. Jordan Spieth +1 (71)
62. Rory McIlroy +2 (72)
62. Viktor Hovland +3 (73)
64. Adam Scott +4 (74)
Material from PGA Tour Media & Communications was used to compile report.
