Red-hot Tommy Fleetwood opens four-shot lead as storm halts St. Jude Championship
The Englishman made birdie runs early and late at TPC Southwind to reach 13-under 127 after 36 holes - good enough to leave him four shots clear of Akshay Bhatia, Collin Morikawa, and Justin Rose when play was halted due to thunderstorms.
Morikawa carded a five-under 65 to join Bhatia, who shot 69, in the clubhouse on nine-under 131. Rose was also on nine-under with two holes to play when the storm struck, prompting officials to suspend play for the rest of the day.
Fleetwood, a seven-time winner on the DP World Tour, has finished runner-up six times on the US circuit, including a playoff defeat to US Ryder Cup captain Keegan Bradley at June's Travelers Championship.
"Maybe this weekend is the weekend," Fleetwood said. "It hasn't happened for me yet on the PGA Tour, but I would much rather be up there and not quite get it done than not there at all.
"Yesterday I felt like I stayed very patient, and then today after a hot start I wasn't feeling that comfortable with my swing, so actually then to get on a run after that -- I hit great shots into 13, 14, I played those holes really, really well, played them perfect."
Two-time major champion Collin Morikawa made a strong move up the leaderboard, highlighted by an eagle after holing out from the fairway at the ninth.
"Yeah, 127 (yards), tried to land it 125. Came off weird off the face," he said. "It almost came off knuckly ... but just with a breath of wind behind you, it just looked like it was diving out of the air."
World number one Scottie Scheffler, fresh off his fourth major victory at the Open Championship at Royal Portrush, endured a frustrating day despite carding a four-under 66 with eight birdies and four bogeys.
The round left him six shots back and saw the typically composed American show flashes of rare frustration.
The top 50 players after this week progress to next week's BMW Championship, with the leading 30 from that event moving on to the season-ending Tour Championship in Atlanta.