PGA

FedEx St. Jude Classic 2018

June 07-10

TPC Southwind, Memphis, Tennessee

$6,600,000

June 07-10

TPC Southwind, Memphis, Tennessee

$6,600,000

Round 2

Dustin Johnson takes lead in Tennessee

Round 1

Round 3

Round 4

Round 1

Round 3

Round 4

June 08, 2018

Dustin Johnson, tuning up for the US Open and aiming to regain the world number one ranking, fired a seven-under par 63 on Friday to grab the second-round lead at the FedEx St. Jude Classic.

Johnson holed out for an eagle and nabbed six birdies as he built a 10-under par total of 130 at TPC Southwind in Memphis, Tennessee.

Johnson had a one-shot lead over fellow Americans Ryan Blaum and Andrew Putnam.

``I feel like I'm playing really well,`` said Johnson, who lost the number one ranking to Justin Thomas last month after reigning for 64 straight weeks.

``I'm swinging the club well. I know if I can drive it in the fairway I'm going to give myself a good look for birdie. I felt like I did that pretty much all day.

``I hit a lot of great shots in there, had a lot of good looks at birdie.``

Johnson opened with a birdie at the 10th. After bogeys at 12 and 13 he bounced back with birdies at 14 and 16.

He jump-started his round with an eagle at the first, where he holed out with a wedge from 111 yards.

Johnson's approach at the second left him less than a foot for birdie, and he added birdies at three, six and nine -- and needed only 24 putts in the round.

``I'm rolling it down the line I'm looking,`` Johnson said. ``If I can get a good read and good speed, they're going to go in.``

Blaum had seven birdies in a six-under 64 and as did Putnam as they shared second on nine-under 131.

Taiwan's C.T. Pan and American Wesley Bryan were a further stroke back and Brandt Snedeker was on 133 after a sizzling 62 that featured eight birdies without a bogey.

Snedeker, coming back this season after injury sidelined him for much of 2017, said it was encouraging to see his work paying off.

``Until you start seeing results, you start questioning what you're doing,`` he said. ``You need to see these positive days, where it's, 'OK, I am doing the right stuff, and it's coming around. I'm not losing my mind.'``

Five-time major winner Phil Mickelson, trying to build momentum for a run at the US Open title that has so long eluded him, followed up his first-round 66 with an even par 70.

``It's tough to get the ball on the green if you don't drive it in the fairway,`` Mickelson said. ``And around the greens it's tough because the rough is challenging. I made a few bogeys because I struggled with the difficulty around the greens.

``I didn't really have it today, but I was able to close out the round with a couple of birdies and get it back to even and I'm in a decent position.``