Chris Kirk Leads FedEx St. Jude Championship with Ace

The FedEx St. Jude Championship, the opening leg of the FedExCup Play-Offs, is being launched in Memphis in some style. Chris Kirk set the pace with a remarkable, bogey-free round which included a hole-in-one at the 16th, finishing with a score of 64 which would have been good enough for a lead but for a dropped stroke on the final hole.

The English pair of Justin Rose and Tommy Fleetwood are hot on the leader’s heels, just two shots behind. Rose finished particularly strongly, birdieing three of his last four holes in what turned out to be a remarkable matching between a handful of players around the fifth and sixth places.

The competition is very much alive, with the inviting leaderboard showing a total of 57 players within six strokes of the leader. Sky Sports Golf, the home of US sport in the UK, will continue its all-encompassing coverage of the tournament, starting at 5 p.m. on Friday; just about everything will be there to watch as it happens.