Todd shoots 65, leads by 2 in Memphis
MEMPHIS, Tenn. – Brendon Todd shot a 5-under 65 Friday and grabbed a two-stroke lead through 36 holes of the FedEx St. Jude Invitational.
Todd trailed defending champion Brooks Koepka after the first round by two strokes. He quickly erased that deficit and took the lead to himself with a bogey-free, five-birdie round for a 129 total at the World Golf Championships event at TPC Southwind.
Rickie Fowler closed with birdies on his final two holes for a 67 and 131 total just behind Todd.
Koepka had the lead to himself at 10 under before falling apart on his back nine with a double bogey and two bogeys. He finished with a 71, his first time over par at this course in seven rounds. He was four strokes back, tied with Byeong Hun An (65) and Chez Reavie (67).
Jon Rahm shot a 74 and now is 4 over in his first event as No. 1 in the world.
Justin Thomas, who could go back to No. 1 in the world with a win, was seven strokes back after a 70. Rory McIlroy’s bid to be No. 1 again may have to wait until the PGA championship next week. He shot a 66, but is 10 strokes back.
The wind eased from Thursday, making it easier off the tee in a round started early Friday morning to avoid expected thunderstorms in the afternoon.
Todd won back-to-back tournaments last November for his first win on tour since winning the Byron Nelson in 2014. Since the return to play in June, Todd missed two cuts with his best finish a tie for 11th at the Travelers Championship.
On Friday, his putter worked well enough that he needed only 24 putts in a round that featured a 50-footer for birdie on the par-3 No. 14. Todd hit a 6-iron to the left side of the green, and he had to roll the ball over a mound breaking left at least 5 feet.
Todd stayed close to Koepka with birdies on Nos. 2 and 7. Todd sunk a 13footer on the par-3 island green of No. 11 to go 9 under just as Koepka became the first to reach double digits under par.
That’s when Koepka started struggling with his putter. Koepka doublebogeyed No. 2 when he three-putted after missing a putt for par from 3 feet.
TRUCKEE, Calif. – Kyle Stanley had another eagle in a 14-point round Friday to take the lead into the weekend in the Barracuda Championship, the PGA Tour’s lone modified Stableford scoring event.
Stanley had a 22-point total for a two-stroke lead over Matthias Schwab, Robert Streb and Branden Grace in high altitude at Tahoe Mountain Club’s Old Greenwood Course. Players receive 8 points for albatross, 5 for eagle, 2 for birdie, zero for par, minus-1 for bogey and minus-3 for double bogey or worse.
“Actually, I’m not sure what I shot,” said Stanley, who had a 5-under 66.. “It’s kind of the weird, the format out here. You’re kind of focusing more on points than you are what your score is. But I had another eagle today, which was nice. I had one yesterday. That really helped my point total.”
Stanley eagled the par-5 12th a day after accomplishing the feat on the par-5 sixth. He also had six birdies and two bogeys in his afternoon round Friday. The 32-year-old is trying to win for the third time on the tour after breaking through in the 2012 Phoenix Open and taking the 2017 Quicken Loans National.
Stanley needs a victory to get into the PGA Championship next week. The top two from the top 10, not already eligible, will get spots in the U.S. Open in September at Winged Foot.
Maverick McNealy and Troy Merritt had 19 points.
LPGA Tour
TOLEDO, Ohio – Danielle Kang went more than six months without competing and looked as though she had never been away, playing bogey-free at Inverness Club for a 6-under 66 and a oneshot lead in the LPGA Drive On Championship.
The LPGA Tour’s much-awaited return from the COVID-19 pandemic brought an immediate sense of its new world. Kang had no idea where she stood after a closing birde.
“There aren’t any leaderboards on the golf course,” Kang said.
Inverness, where Paul Azinger beat Greg Norman in a playoff at the 1993 PGA Championship, is hosting the Solheim Cup next year and offered to stage the first event back for the LPGA Tour since the Women’s Australian Open on
Feb. 16. The LPGA Tour remains in northeast Ohio next week before heading to Scotland.
Jodi Ewart Shadoff of England also played bogey-free for a 67. Celine Boutier of France and Lee-Anne Pace of South Africa also were at 5 under until both made bogey on the closing hole. They settled for a 68.
The foremost global tour in golf attracted 130 players from some 30 countries, though it was missing the leading stars from powerhouse South Korea. Jin Young Ko, the No. 1 player in the world, and Sung Hyun Park have stayed home and are playing on the Korean LPGA. Neither is expected to travel to Scotland for the Women’s British Open in three weeks.
The lone Korean among the top 10 – a rarity given the country’s strength in women’s golf – was Hee Young Park at 70.
PGA Tour Champions
GRAND BLANC, Mich. – Tommy Armour III had been playing enough golf during the pandemic to know his game was in good shape. All he needed was a spot in the Ally Challenge to show it.
Armour and Billy Andrade each opened with a 6-under 66 at Warwick Hills to share the lead by one shot over Bernhard Langer as the PGA Tour Champions returned for the first time since March.
Armour wasn’t in the field until he arrived at the course Monday and learned Brandt Jobe had withdrawn.
“I played a lot of golf in this period where we haven’t been playing, and I was looking forward to playing well,” Armour said. “There’s two more rounds left. But I had a good feeling coming back when I was first hoping to get in the tournament. I mean, a lot of 50-yearolds and plus, and out of 81 p layers, somebody’s going to break down a little bit.”
Andrade played bogey-free for his 66 at the course that for years hosted the Buick Open on the PGA Tour.
Langer leads the Charles Schwab Cup points list, which won’t be decided until the end of 2021 because of how much time the 50-and-old tour lost to the pandemic.