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  Debate

Debate

Can Rory McIlroy outshine the competition at the FedEx St. Jude Championship this year?

The penultimate round of the FedEx St. Jude Championship will kick off in a few hours! After a grueling second round, Chris Kirk, who entered the field with the solo lead, is now tied for a T10 with Will Zalatoris at a 6-under. On the other hand, Denny McCarthy, who was holding a spot in the Top 5, has taken the lead right ahead of the Saturday round.

Tying with him is Hideki Matsuyama, who was just one position ahead of him before the Friday round began. They are currently at 11-under, one stroke ahead of Sam Burns, who holds the No. 3 spot on the leaderboard. What drama does the third round at the TPC Southwind hold?

The Saturday round in Memphis, unlike the first two rounds, will be a pairing of three players each teeing off, except for the last two pairs teeing off from the back nine (Mark Hubbard-Si Woo Kim and Jake Knapp-Max Homa). On one hand, Adam Scott, Sepp Straka, and Maverick McNealy will open the field on the front nine at 10:45 a.m. ET.

On the other hand, Alex Noren, Davis Thompson, and Matthieu Pavon will be teeing off simultaneously, but on the back nine. Each pairing has approximately a gap of eleven minutes between the tee times. Here’s what the final field for the penultimate round looks like:

TIMETEEPLAYERS
10:45 AM
EDT
1 

Adam Scott

 

Sepp Straka

 

Maverick McNealy

10:45 AM
EDT
10 

Alex Noren

 

Davis Thompson

 

Matthieu Pavon

10:56 AM
EDT
1 

Wyndham Clark

 

Seamus Power

 

Eric Cole

10:56 AM
EDT
10 

Shane Lowry

 

Min Woo Lee

 

Keegan Bradley

11:07 AM
EDT
1 

Austin Eckroat

 

Justin Thomas

 

Akshay Bhatia

11:07 AM
EDT
10 

J.T. Poston

 

Corey Conners

 

Jason Day

11:18 AM
EDT
1 

Tommy Fleetwood

 

Taylor Pendrith

 

Emiliano Grillo

11:18 AM
EDT
10 

Tom Hoge

 

Patrick Cantlay

 

Byeong Hun An

11:29 AM
EDT
1 

Christiaan Bezuidenhout

 

Russell Henley

 

Ben Griffin

11:29 AM
EDT
10 

Sahith Theegala

 

Victor Perez

 

Cam Davis

11:40 AM
EDT
1 

Brendon Todd

 

Harris English

 

Nick Taylor

11:40 AM
EDT
10 

Sungjae Im

 

Ludvig Åberg

 

Collin Morikawa

11:51 AM
EDT
1 

Xander Schauffele

 

Tom Kim

 

Brian Harman

11:51 AM
EDT
10 

Peter Malnati

 

Patrick Rodgers

 

Stephan Jaeger

12:02 PM
EDT
1 

Matt Fitzpatrick

 

Aaron Rai

 

Tony Finau

12:02 PM
EDT
10 

Taylor Moore

 

Mackenzie Hughes

 

Cameron Young

12:13 PM
EDT
1 

Erik van Rooyen

 

Will Zalatoris

 

Chris Kirk

12:13 PM
EDT
10 

Rory McIlroy

 

Adam Hadwin

 

Thomas Detry

12:24 PM
EDT
1 

Viktor Hovland

 

Robert MacIntyre

 

Billy Horschel

12:24 PM
EDT
10 

Jhonattan Vegas

 

Jordan Spieth

 

Max Greyserman

12:35 PM
EDT
1 

Scottie Scheffler

 

Justin Rose

 

Nick Dunlap

12:35 PM
EDT
10 

Mark Hubbard

 

Si Woo Kim

12:46 PM
EDT
1 

Denny McCarthy

 

Hideki Matsuyama

 

Sam Burns

12:46 PM
EDT
10 

Jake Knapp

 

Max Homa

If there is one thing that has been bothering the players at the St. Jude Championship, it is the heat index. Well, this was the case last year, when the heat index rose to a whopping 111 degrees in the second round. This year, it was a 107, and well, golfers even on top of the leaderboard struggled through.

Denny McCarthy playing through an injury

31-year-old Denny McCarthy is yet to grab his first PGA Tour victory. With an impressive run this season, a runner-up finish at the Valero Texas Open, a T6 finish at the Wells Fargo Championship, and a T7 at the John Deere Classic, there are chances that he might finally achieve it this year! However, the Memphis heat has been causing a lot of problems for him.

He altered his swing, as he has been suffering from a torn labrum in his hip, to win through a round of two bogeys and nine birdies. “I don’t want to divulge too much. It’s bothering me, and I’ve been able to do enough the last few days to push through it. Like I said, the heat helps it. Yeah, looking forward to a challenge on the weekend,” he said. Despite the heat index rising and a predicted thunderstorm on Saturday, do you think McCarthy will be able to lift his first trophy on the tour after coming this close? Stay tuned to find out!