2026 St. Jude Championship leaderboard: Live updates, FedEx Cup Playoffs highlights from Round 1

We've been waiting all afternoon for someone to join the leaders at 5 under and it proves to be Jake Knapp. Knapp rolled in three straight birdies to finish his first round with conversions from 16 feet and 12 feet coming before a kick-in conversion on the last. The smooth-swinging right hander has been vocal about feeling less than 100% coming off a wrist injury, but he continues to put his best foot forward. He is one of those players in for next week's BMW Championship but in need of a move to qualify for his first Tour Championship.

All in all it is a 4-under 66 for Sungjae Im who is projected to move up 10 spots on the FedEx Cup standings with his current place of T4. Im put seven birdies, three bogeys and eight pars on his scorecard as he did not go longer than two holes between making a bogey or birdie. The up-and-down nature was smoothed out by Im's putter as he gained more than 2.50 strokes on the greens in Round 1.

It seems like everyone close to that top-50 bubble in need of a great week got off to the start they needed. It starts with someone like Jordan Spieth, but names such as Maverick McNealy, Harris English and now Sungjae Im have put together beautiful rounds. Im is 3 under with two holes to play, while Keith Mitchell is one hole behind and one stroke behind. It will be interesting how much shifting will occur over the next three days given how high all these players seem to be on the leaderboard.

The former tournament champion got out of the blocks slow Thursday, but finished fast enough to surge one stroke off the early leaders. Matsuyama was 2 over through his first 11 holes and then finished birdie, par, birdie, birdie, birdie, birdie, birdie to get in the house at 4 under with a 66. 

It could have been even lower as he gave himself a close look for eagle on the par-5 16th. During his scoring bonanza, Matsuyama's longest birdie bid was just 10 feet showing how locked in he was with his iron play.

The two-time PGA Tour winner is battling a different bubble this postseason (the top 30), but he could do most of that legwork this week with a strong showing. Kurt Kitayama gets off to a great start this afternoon with a 5-under 65 thanks to a sensational early run that saw him go 3 under in his first three holes. He caught fire on the back nine as well after some hiccups before the turn to tie those leaders in the clubhouse already. Kitayama entered the playoffs at No. 33 in the season-long race.

In his first start since The Open and some fun around Europe, Rory McIlroy looked about as rusty as possible. The world No. 2 made bogey on both par 5s and ended his day with a double bogey on the par-4 18th in which he found the water off the tee, dropped left of the pond and failed to get up-and-down from greenside to finish with a 4-over 74.

Alongside McIlroy, Scottie Scheffler sauntered to an opening 68 — three off the current lead. Scheffler was far from his sharpest, but he managed his way around TPC Southwind even without hitting many fairways.

Playing one pairing apart, both Michael Thorbjornsen and Jordan Spieth come in with 5-under 65s. Both caught heaters at various points in their rounds with Thorbjornsen running through the finish line by playing his final four holes in 4 under thanks to a birdie, eagle, par, birdie finish.

Meanwhile, Spieth saw his name surge up the leaderboard and stay there in the early portion of his back nine. Spieth made five birdies from Nos. 9-15, went around TPC Southwind bogey-free and still left some chances out there. The first eight holes were scratchy, but it is a great start for someone who needed it as Spieth started the week outside the top 50 in the FedEx Cup standings.

After giving himself some self-talk in the fairway on No. 15, Jordan Spieth rolled in a 17-foot birdie look to reach 5 under. He was unable to make birdie on the lone par 5 on the back nine, but he remains at 5 under and out in front of everyone else. Spieth has not held at least a share of the first-round lead in a tournament in exactly four years as he did so at this tournament in 2022. It's been awesome to watch thus far, but with Spieth we know the round is not over until the final putt drops on No. 18.

It's early…incredibly early, but Jordan Spieth's name has shot up to the top of the leaderboard with two straight birdies and four in his last five holes. After the 40-foot connection on No. 11, Spieth has continued his run on the greens with a 6-foot conversion and his latest coming from 25 feet. Just as a reminder, Spieth entered the week without a single top-10 finish to his name. He is the only player in this field who can say that.

Despite a start that included an unscheduled tip to the port a potties, Jordan Spieth has managed his way around TPC Southwind effectively thus far. He just rolled in a 40-foot birdie bid on the par-3 11th for his second birdie in the last three holes pushing his name to 2 under and three off the early lead. Spieth starts the week on the outside looking in for the top 50 and may require his best result of the year to extend his season.