Final-Round Notes – Thursday, August 5, 2021
Weather: Mostly sunny, with a high of 89. Wind NW 4-8 mph.
First-Round Leaderboard
Harris English 62 (-8)
Jim Herman 64 (-6)
Carlos Ortiz 64 (-6)
Matthew Wolff 64 (-6)
Ian Poulter 64 (-6)
Things to Know
- In his first WGC-FedEx St. Jude Invitational since 2016 (Firestone CC), Harris English ties career-low score; with birdies on seven of his first nine holes, also ties TPC Southwind’s lowest 9-hole score of 28
- English’s first of four career PGA TOUR titles was the 2013 FedEx St. Jude Classic at TPC Southwind
- With his 6-under 64, Jim Herman extends his streak of par-or-better rounds on the PGA TOUR this season to 13
- Mexico’s Carlos Ortiz opens his first WGC-FedEx St. Jude Invitational with a bogey-free 6-under 64
- Coming off top-10 finishes in two of his last three starts in the event, Ian Poulter opens with 6-under 64
- Defending champion Justin Thomas sits T13 at 3-under 67
First-Round Lead Notes
5 First-round leaders/co-leaders to win the WGC-FedEx St. Jude Invitational
(Stewart Cink/2004, Tiger Woods/1999, 2000, 2005, Adam Scott/2011)
5 First-round leaders/co-leaders to win in 2020-21
(most recent: Matt Jones/The Honda Classic)
Harris English (entering the week)
Category | Statistic |
Age | 32 (7/23/1989) |
Country | United States |
FedExCup | 5 |
OWGR | 14 |
PGA TOUR starts | 265 |
WGC-FESJI starts | 3 |
WGC-FESJI wins | 0 |
WGC-FESJI top-10s | 0 |
PGA TOUR wins | 4 |
PGA TOUR top-10s | 37 |
Starts in 2020-21 | 22 |
Wins in 2020-21 | 2 |
Top-10s in 2020-21 | 7 |
- With seven birdies on his first nine holes, tied the low 9-hole score of 28 at TPC Southwind (Joel Edwards/front nine/R2/2002 FedEx St. Jude Classic)
- Finished his round with birdies on three of his last four holes en route to tying his career-low score on TOUR (most recent: R4/2020 The RSM Classic/T6)
- Needed 25 putts to sink a total of 135’1” of putts; finished the round leading Strokes Gained: Putting (3.256)
- When holding at least a share of the 18-hole lead on TOUR, has converted on two of four occasions (2013 FedEx St. Jude Classic, 2021 Sentry Tournament of Champions)
- Only player to win a World Golf Championships stroke-play event after opening with a 62 or better was Adam Scott
(2011 WGC-FedEx St. Jude Invitational)
- Making his fourth start in the event, but first since moving to TPC Southwind
- Has finished inside the top three in two of his last three TOUR starts (3rd/U.S. Open, P1/Travelers Championship); most recently finished T46 at The Open Championship
- With wins this season at the Sentry Tournament of Champions and Travelers Championship (both via playoffs), a victory this week would make him the season’s first three-time winner
Miscellaneous Notes
- In his second WGC-FedEx St. Jude Invitational start and first since 2016, Jim Herman (T2/-6) offset a lone bogey at No. 14 with seven birdies, marking his 13th consecutive round of par-or-better this season; the 64 ties his low score of the season (R1/Sony Open in Hawaii/T32); in three starts at the FedEx St. Jude Classic at TPC Southwind, mixed two missed cuts with a T47 in 2013
- In his WGC-FedEx St. Jude Invitational debut, Carlos Ortiz (T2/-6) looks to become the season’s seventh multiple winner (Vivint Houston Open)
- In his third consecutive start in the WGC-FedEx St. Jude Invitational, Matthew Wolff (T2/-6) birdied his first three holes and three of his last four en route to his lowest score on TOUR since a 10-under 61 in round three of the 2020 Shriners Children’s Open (P2); seeks his third top-10 finish of the season and first since and first since a playoff loss at the 2020 Shriners Hospitals for Children Open
- Following top-10 finishes in two of his last three starts in the WGC-FedEx St. Jude Invitational (T10/2018, 8th/2019), Ian Poulter opened with a 6-under 64
- Making his fifth consecutive start in the WGC-FedEx St. Jude Invitational, Bryson DeChambeau (T6/-5) offset a lone bogey at No. 5 with six birdies; best of four previous starts was 30th in 2018; with a win this week, would become the season’s first three-time winner (2020 U.S. Open, 2021 Arnold Palmer Invitational presented by Mastercard)
- Scottie Scheffler (T6/-5) birdied six of his first nine holes before posting an even-par 35 on his inward nine in his second start at the WGC-FedEx St. Jude Invitational (2020/T15); comes into the week after finishing inside the top 10 in three of his last five starts (3rd/the Memorial Tournament presented by Workday, T7/U.S. Open, T8/The Open Championship)
- Daniel Berger, who claimed his first two career PGA TOUR titles at the 2016 and 2017 FedEx St. Jude Classic, sank a 76’11” birdie putt at No. 15 on his way to a 4-under 66 (T9)
- Players of note: Defending champion Justin Thomas (67), Collin Morikawa (67), Phil Mickelson (69), Dustin Johnson (69), Xander Schauffele (69), Brooks Koepka (70), Jordan Spieth (71), Rory McIlroy (72)
Course Statistics
Toughest Hole Easiest Hole
R1: Par-3 14th (3.227) Par-5 16th (4.182)
Scoring Averages
Front 9 Back 9 Total Cumulative
R1: 34.076 34.318 68.394 ---
Bogey-free rounds
R1 (2): Carlos Ortiz (64), Ian Poulter (64)
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