Tommy Fleetwood had another big closing stretch with four straight birdies, giving him a six-under 64 and the 36-hole lead in the FedEx Cup St. Jude Championship with his sights set on an elusive PGA Tour title.
Fleetwood sits at 13-under, four shots clear of Collin Morikawa (65) and Akshay Bhatia (69).
Justin Rose was also at nine-under par after a birdie on the par-five 16th when storms rolled into the area, forcing spectators to leave the course with play suspended.
“It hasn’t happened for me yet out on the PGA Tour, but I would much rather be up there and not quite get it done than not there at all,” Fleetwood said. “And who knows? Maybe this weekend is the weekend and we’ll see, and we’ll crack on from there.”
Fleetwood made three birdies in a row early, including a 30-footer from the fringe on the par-three fourth hole at TPC Southwind. He also had a pair of key par saves around the turn before going on another run.
He holed a pair of 15-foot birdie putts on the 13th and 14th, then stuffed a wedge to five feet for birdie on the 15th. And he reached the par-five 16th in two and two-putted from about 30 feet for a fourth straight birdie.
His only bogey came at the final hole when he went from the bunker into thick rough, and the safe shot from there was some 50 feet long of the pin.
“Of course, when you shoot two good scores, it’s easy to say everything has been going well,” Fleetwood said. “But I think for the most part I’ve been very good off the tee, put myself in position to have a go at the course. My iron play has been good and solid, and I’ve rolled the ball well.”
Fleetwood is No 15 in the world with seven wins on the European tour against some of the stronger fields. He has thrived on a big stage overseas, particularly the Ryder Cup. It’s just that small matter of a PGA Tour title.
He was on the verge in late June at the Travelers Championship until a stunning flip at the end, when he took three putts from just short of the green for bogey and Keegan Bradley made birdie to beat him.
Scottie Scheffler and Rory McIlroy are both former winners of the FedExCup
The Playoffs were launched in 2007 and have received multiple tweaks to the qualification and format since, with this year’s edition having three tournaments that all offer limited field sizes.
Only the top 70 in the season-long standings qualify for the FedEx St. Jude Championship, held at TPC Southwind in Memphis from August 7-10, with the top 50 after that progressing to the BMW Championship at Caves Valley Golf Club in Maryland from August 14-17.
Both of those events offer 2000 FedExCup points to the winner – four times the amount awarded for a regular PGA Tour event, with both also not having a 36-hole cut.
The top 30 in the standings after those tournaments qualify for the Tour Championship, taking place from August 21-24 at East Lake Golf Club in Atlanta, with all three events exclusively live on Sky Sports.
