The much-awaited FedEx Cup Playoffs is finally underway! The first leg of the tournament just concluded its opening round a few hours ago, on August 15. Chris Kirk, who is currently 28 in the FedEx Cup standings with 1318 points, has taken the lead to enter the second round. He ended the round with just one bogey on the final hole to bag an impressive score of 6-under 64.

Kirk is currently in a one-stroke lead ahead of Taylor Pendrith, Matthieu Pavon, and Hideki Matsuyama. He also carded an ace on the 14th hole, which he confirmed to be the ninth ace of his entire career. Now the question is, will he be able to continue the momentum through the other three rounds and enter the BMW Championship next weekend with a lead?

Who is Chris Kirk paired with for the Friday round?

The second round of the FedEx St. Jude Championship is scheduled for August 16 at the TPC Southwind. The field will be opened by Viktor Hovland and Erik van Rooyen at 8:20 am EDT, and the final pairing will be that of Nick Dunlap and Jhonattan Vegas. Chris Kirk will be pairing with Taylor Pendrith, who is the 26th pair to tee off in Memphis on Friday.

Unlike the other PGA Tour events, since there are only 70 players at the championship, all the players will begin teeing off from the front nine. Each of the pairs will get a total of ten minutes for their shots. Here’s what the final field will look like on Friday:

While the first round of the St. Jude Championship went off without interruption, despite 20% chances of rain, will the second round too be spared at the TPC Southwind?

Will the Friday round be interrupted by afternoon thunderstorms?

Last year, it was the horrific heat index that reached 111 degrees in the second round that became the villain for the players at the St. Jude Championship. Although this year too, the heat index will be a problem (predicted to be around 106 degrees), other worries lie ahead of the match day. Friday has predictions of afternoon thunderstorms with a 30% chance of rain.

Even the winds will be blowing from the SW at a speed of 10–15 mph. Now, the problem is, it is during the afternoon that the much-anticipated players will be teeing off. And if the predictions were to go right, there might be a delay right when the match takes a good turn, disappointing the spectators. The temperature is predicted to go as high as 96 degrees, and as low as 75 degrees. Do you think the second round will go uninterrupted, just like the opening round? Stay tuned to find out in just a few hours!