English maintains lead after 2nd round

MEMPHIS, Tenn. — Harris English shot a 5-under 65 Friday at TPC Southwind to hold onto the lead in the World Golf Golf Championships-FedEx St. Jude Invitational.

English withstood strong challenges from Cameron Smith and Abraham Ancer to hold the top spot at 13-under 127.

Smith had a 62 that required only 18 putts, tying a PGA Tour record for fewest putts in a round. Ancer shot a bogey-free 62, his tour-leading 14th bogey-free round of the season.They were two strokes back.

Ian Poulter (66), Scottie Scheffler (65) and Sam Burns (64) were 10 under, and Louis Oosthuizen (64) and Bryson DeChambeau (66) were 9 under. DeChambeau missed the Tokyo Olympics last week because of a positive test for COVID-19.

English opened the WGC event Thursday with a 62 to match his lowest PGA Tour score and entered the second round with a two-stroke advantage over a foursome that includedPoulter.

English’s opening 65 included four birdies and an eagle.

“I’ve been playing really solid,” he said. “When I miss thegreens, I feel like my short game has been on point. And I feel like I’m putting it well. I made some good saves for par, [I made] some good birdies putts. Everything is clickingright now.”

The 2013 winner at TPC Southwind, English showed no signs of relinquishing his lead from the outset. Starting on the back nine, he rolled in a 35-foot birdie putt on the par-3 11th and added birdies at14 and 16.

The only blemish during English’s round was a bogey on the par-4 second hole. He missed a 9-foot par putt, but recovered immediately with aneagle on the par-5 third. He hit his 5-iron approach inside 5 feet and made the putt to go up by three strokes. He said the eagle was the key to his round.

“I feel like I just really shook off that bogey well and kepton going,” he said.

Two of English’s four PGA Tour victories come this season, the Sentry Tournament of Champions in January in Hawaii and the Travelers Championship in June in Connecticut. He finished third in the U.S. Open.

“This game is all about confidence and if you have confidence on your side, you just runwith it,” English said.

A relatively wind-free day produced an abundance of low scores. Of the top 37 on the leader board, 34 shot 69 or better.

With 48 of the world’s top 50 players in the 66-player field, English can’t afford to be comfortable with how the first two rounds have gone.

“You’ve got to keep the gas pedal down,” he said.