멤피스. FedEx St. Jude Championship이 진행 중이다. 이 토너먼트는 단순 우승만이 아니라, Player of the Year 경쟁과 상위 50인 진출 버블이 얽혀 있다.
01셰플러의 화려한 복귀
금요일 오후. TPC Southwind는 무더운 날씨였다. Scottie Scheffler는 처음 7홀에서 6개의 버디를 기록했다. 그의 최종 스코어는 61타(9언더), 코스 레코드와 동일하다. 이번 주 최고 라운드를 3타 앞선다.
진짜 꿈같은 시작이었어. 아마도 투어에서 가진 최고의 시작 중 하나. 이렇게 낮게 시작한 적이 없었던 것 같다스콧 셰플러
셰플러는 Strokes Gained: Approach와 Strokes Gained: Putting에서 필드 최고였다. 13개의 원퍼트를 기록했음에도 2개의 보기를 했다. 현재 그는 Sungjae Im과 Viktor Hovland를 3타로 리드하고 있다.
시즌 내내 셰플러는 통계에서 선두를 달렸다. 하지만 정작 중요한 토너먼트에서는 아쉬움이 있었다. Masters에서 거의 다 왔고, playoff에서 Matt Fitzpatrick과 Viktor Hovland에게 졌다. Doral에서는 Cameron Young에게, Minnesota에서는 Jackson Koivun에게 밀렸다.
이곳 멤피스는 그의 스타일에 딱 맞는 코스다. 지난해 3위를 기록했으던 그는 이미 FedExCup 포인트 1위로 다음주 BMW Championship을 앞두고 있다. 만약 우승한다면 TOUR Championship까지 1위를 유지할 수 있고, Player of the Year 경쟁에도 큰 영향을 미칠 것이다.
02스피스의 줄타기 경기
Jordan Spieth는 멤피스에서 줄타기를 하고 있다. 상위 50인 진출을 위해 매 라운드가 생사를 결정한다. 1라운드 65타(보기 없음)로 시작했지만, 2라운드는 더 불규칙했다.
장면 장면에는 뛰어난 샷이 있었다. 9번홀의 복구 샷, 13번홀의 칩인 버디, 17번홀의 버디. 하지만 14번홀에서 발리 샷을 친 직후 워터볼을 친 후, 15번홀에서 또 다시 엉망이 됐다. 위기 일촉즉발이었다.
현재 Spieth는 포인트 44위로 상위 50인 경계 근처에 있다. 여유는 거의 없다. 2라운드 후 백나인을 도는 동안 계속 라이브 버블 예측을 확인해야 했다.
Spieth는 상위 50인 탈락의 고통을 잘 안다. 그는 2023년 이후 BMW Championship을 뛰지 못했다. Signature Event 출전이 2년 연속으로 보장되지 않았기 때문이다.
나는 예전보다 훨씬 좋아졌다는 것을 안다조던 스피스
1라운드 후 Spieth는 이렇게 말했다. 통계상으로는 안정적이지만 화려하지는 않다. 올해 상위 25위 피니시가 9번이었지만, 지난 15개월 동안 상위 10위 피니시가 없었기 때문이다. 현재 그는 셰플러에서 5타 뒤로 물려있다. 이번 주말이 기회다.
03Original (English) — PGA TOUR
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MEMPHIS, Tenn. – When asked to survey the crowded Player of the Year landscape as the FedEx St. Jude Championship got underway, former world No. 1 Adam Scott listed off the likely contenders. There's Matt Fitzpatrick and Chris Gotterup, each with three wins. You've got THE PLAYERS champ Cameron Young and U.S. Open winner Wyndham Clark, each with two trophies. Then there's Scottie Scheffler.
"He's won it plenty," Scott said with a smirk, waving off the notion.
Yes, Scheffler has won the Jack Nicklaus Award each of the last four years. But in spite of a surprising lack of hardware (by his lofty standards) this season, the Texan reminded everyone in Memphis on Friday that he'll merit ample consideration.
Scheffler blitzed TPC Southwind on a steamy afternoon, rolling in birdies on six of his first seven holes en route to a 9-under 61 that tied the course record. It's the best round of the week by three shots and gives Scheffler a three-shot lead over Sungjae Im and Viktor Hovland heading into the weekend in search of his long-awaited second win of 2026.
"Really just a dream start," Scheffler said. "Probably one of the best starts I've had on TOUR, to be honest with you. I couldn't tell you a time where I've been lower early in the round."
Scheffler boasted a nearly unstoppable combination, leading the field in both Strokes Gained: Approach and SG: Putting. His record-tying round came in spite of a pair of bogeys and featured 13 one-putts.
His play throughout the season has been very Scheffler-like, pacing the TOUR in all the statistical categories you might expect. But entering the Playoffs, the biggest moments of his season have centered around the ones that got away: a Masters rally that came up a hole or two short, getting bested by Matt Fitzpatrick and Viktor Hovland in playoffs, getting outrun by Cameron Young at Doral and Jackson Koivun in Minnesota.
That could all change this week on a course that clearly suits his game and where his career results have only gotten better, topping out with a T3 finish last year. Scheffler is already assured of holding the top spot in the FedExCup points race heading into next week's BMW Championship, but he's halfway to a watershed win – one that would clinch the top spot all the way into the TOUR Championship while throwing a Texas-sized monkey wrench into the Player of the Year race.
As Jordan Spieth was assessing his second shot to the par-4 ninth hole, one that began near the water's edge and had to meander through a handful of trees, Golf Channel commentator Curt Byrum wondered aloud, "Does he have a gap up there?"
Spoiler alert: he did. But after delivering the only bogey-free scorecard of the opening round, Spieth put together a more tumultuous performance, the likes of which his fans have grown more accustomed to in recent years.
There were highlights: the recovery shot on No. 9, a chip-in birdie on No. 13 and one more circle on No. 17 to get into a tie for fifth. But there were also a few hiccups, like the water ball on No. 14 that promptly followed that chip-in and another wayward approach on No. 15 that narrowly avoided disaster.
Spieth is walking a tightrope this week in Memphis, needing every point he can salvage to make it to next week. He's done enough at the halfway point, projected to move to No. 44 in the points race, but the margins are thin. He spent much of his back nine bouncing back and forth amid live bubble projections.
Few players know better than Spieth how the top-50 cut line can change the outlook for the following season. He has not played the BMW Championship since 2023, missing out on guaranteed spots in the Signature Events over the last two seasons. With a spot next week at Bellerive comes some added stability and some tangible proof that his game is returning toward the levels that earned him three majors early in his career.
After an opening-round 65, Spieth declared, "I know that I'm better than I've been in a long time." The statistics are steady but not spectacular, as he has cracked the top 25 nine times this year but has gone 15 months and counting since his last top-10 result.
He's in position to break that top-10 drought this weekend and, five shots back of Scheffler, still has a chance to challenge for his first win in more than four years. He'll need to remain within arm's length of the lead to give himself a chance to move inside the top-50 bubble.
The only certainty heading into the weekend is that, when it comes to Spieth, you can expect the scorecard to be colorful.
