FedEx St. Jude Championship 2024: 3 Instant Reactions to Thursday Standings Scores | News, Scores, Highlights, Stats & Rumors

Hideki Matsuyama and Tommy Fleetwood, the two medal winners behind Scheffler in Paris, also opened their matches with strong rounds.

Matsuyama moved one stroke behind Kirk with a score of five (-65), while Fleetwood took an early lead in the standings with a score of four (-66) at the start of the morning.

Fleetwood, usually a strong first-round player, has shown no sign of rust over the past two weeks after celebrating his silver medal at the Olympics.

As for Matsuyama, the first-round 65 was a sign of a solid recovery after missing the cut last week at the Wyndham Championship.

Like Scheffler and Schauffele, neither golfer needs to win to advance to next week, but they are aiming for the highest possible finish because of the rewards that come with staggered starts to the Tour Championship over two weeks, when the highest-ranked golfer in the FedEx Cup standings will start at 10-under.