Scottie Scheffler birdies first five holes, fires 61 to lead FedEx St. Jude

The Memphis, Tennessee, feels-like temperature was 107 degrees Friday afternoon, and Scottie Scheffler was even hotter.

Scheffler birdied his first five holes in Round 2 of the FedEx St. Jude Championship to race up the leaderboard in the PGA Tour’s first playoff event.

He then made four more over his final six holes to finish atop it. Scheffler shot 9-under 61 to reach 11 under par, three clear of Sungjae Im (66).

After opening with a three-birdie, one-bogey 68 on Day 1, Scheffler began his second 18 alongside Rory McIlroy at 12:55 p.m. ET at TPC Southwind.

The world No. 1 rolled in a 12-foot birdie putt at the first and a 20-footer at the second. He easily birdied the par-5 third and then made a pair of 5-footers at Nos. 4 and 5. The streak came to an end at the sixth, but he added another circle with a 9-foot birdie at the seventh.

The 6-under stretch moved him to 8 under for the tournament and into a share of first place with Im.

After missing his first green of the day at the par-3 eighth, Scheffler failed to get up and down and made bogey. He missed another green at the ninth, but saved par for a 5-under 30 on his inward half (the same number Im shot Friday).

The back nine was almost as good. Scheffler offset a birdie at the 10th with a bogey at the 12th, but then finished in another flurry, making birdie on Nos. 13, 15, 16 and 17.

Scheffler is seeking his first Tour win since his season-opener at The American Express. He’s also looking to further his bid for a fifth-consecutive Jack Nicklaus Award for PGA Tour player of the year.

McIlroy, for his part, shot even-par 70 to remain at 4 over, two shots removed from last place in the current field of 68.