Harris English shot a second-round 65 and will enter the weekend with a two shot lead at the WGC-FedEx St Jude Invitational.
English, the overnight leader, finished his second go-round at TPC Southwind with just one bogey against four birdies and an eagle en route to a 36-hole score of 13-under par.
“That eagle, that bounce-back after my lone bogey today. No. 3 is a tough shot,” said English. “That pin’s on the left but you’ve got to stand up there with a 5-iron and strike it well.
“Hitting it to four feet there and having a relatively short eagle putt was awesome. Then the bounce-back and come out one shot better on 2 and 3 combined was great. I feel like I just really shook off that bogey well and kept on going.”
The Georgia native will be paired with Cameron Smith in Saturday’s final pairing after the Aussie shot a low-round 62 which included just 18 putts, tying the all-time PGA Tour record for fewest putts in a round.
“Yeah, it’s a pretty cool little title I guess to have next to your name,” said Smith when asked about the putting record.
“Like I said, I was actually hitting really nice golf shots as well that ended up just going off the green and made a few of them, and had a chip-in there for par on 4, which kept the round going.
“Yeah, was seeing the putts really good today.”
Abraham Ancer was also at 11 under after his own round of 62. The pair were a shot clear of a trio at T4, which included Sam Burns (64), Scottie Scheffler (65) and Ian Poulter (66).
Poulter, who badly wants to earn a spot on the European Ryder Cup team, finished with just one bogey against five birdies.
“I’m looking forward to a nice Coke Zero right now because I’m hot,” joked Poulter. “I’m just looking forward to playing some nice golf. I just got to keep doing what I’m doing.
“I feel my game’s been in shape for quite some time, I’ve been on a decent run of form and I just want to help Paddy out, I want to make that team, I really want to be a part of this Ryder Cup team.
“Just keep playing some nice golf and everything takes care of itself.”
Louis Oosthuizen (64) and Bryson DeChambeau (66) were one further back on 9 under while Will Zalatoris (66) and Jim Herman (68) rounded out the top-10 leaders at 8 under.
2021 WGC-FedEx St. Jude Invitational
Leaderboard: Top 10
Pos-Player-To Par-(Rd 2)
1. Harris English -13 (-5)
2. Cameron Smith -11 (-8)
2. Abraham Ancer -11 (-8)
4. Sam Burns -10 (-6)
4. Scottie Scheffler -10 (-5)
4. Ian Poulter -10 (-4)
7. Louis Oosthuizen -9 (6)
7. Bryson DeChambeau -9 (-4)
9. Will Zalatoris -8 (-4)
9. Jim Herman -8 (-2)
Notables
Pos-Player-To Par-(Rd 2)
11. Daniel Berger -7 (-3)
11. Carlos Ortiz -7 (-1)
13. Tony Finau -6 (-5)
13. Dustin Johnson -6 (-5)
13. Paul Casey -6 (-4)
13. Stewart Cink -6 (-4)
13. Justin Thomas -6 (-3)
13. Max Homa -6 (-2)
13. Matthew Wolff -6 (E)
21. Phil Mickelson -5 (-4)
21. Tyrrell Hatton -5 (-2)
25. Webb Simpson -4 (-5)
25. Lee Westwood -4 (-1)
25. Marc Leishman -4 (+1)
30. Patrick Reed -3 (-1)
30. Hideki Matsuyama -3 (-1)
30. Shane Lowry -3 (-1)
38. Viktor Hovland -2 (-5)
38. Rory McIlroy -2 (-4)
38. Patrick Cantlay -2 (-3)
38. Sergio Garcia -2 (-2)
38. Joaquin Niemann -2 (-2)
38. Justin Rose -2 (-1)
38. Collin Morikawa -2 (+1)
47. Brooks Koepka -1 (-1)
47. Tommy Fleetwood -1 (E)
52. Adam Scott E (-4)
52. Jordan Spieth E (-1)
60. Matt Fitzpatrick +2 (+2)
60. Xander Schauffele +2 (+3)
Material from PGA Tour Media & Communications was used to compile report.
