Michael Kim arrived at the FedEx St. Jude Championship needing a jump, and he got one in a hurry.
The former Cal golfer opened the first round at TPC Southwind with a 5-under-par 65, good enough to share the lead in Memphis and give his FedEx Cup standing a serious jolt. Kim started Thursday 61st in the points race and moved up 37 places, landing at a projected No. 24 after a round that put him squarely in the mix.
That matters because the math is simple this week: the top 50 after Sunday move on to the BMW Championship next week at Bellerive CC in St. Louis, and they also lock up spots in all eight signature events on the 2027 PGA Tour calendar. Kim still has work to do, but the opening round gave him exactly the kind of cushion he needed.
He got there with a composed, timely finish. Kim made birdies on Nos. 15 and 17 to climb into a tie at the top with Jordan Spieth, Michael Thorbjornsen, Kurt Kitayama and Jake Knapp.
It was the kind of round that fit his recent form, too. The 33-year-old native of South Korea has two top-10 finishes in his past three tournaments, tying for eighth at the Rocket Classic and sharing 10th at the 3M Open.
Thursday was his 12th under-par round in his last 13, and the way it unfolded showed why he has been able to keep stacking good scores. Kim raced to 4 under through eight holes with birdies at Nos. 2, 3, 5 and 8. A bogey at No. 9 was his only blemish, and he steadied himself with pars from 10 through 14 before closing with those two late birdies.
Spieth, who also entered the week needing a strong performance to keep his season going, matched Kim at 65. The 13-time tour winner and three-time major champion posted five birdies over his final 10 holes and climbed from No. 54 to a projected No. 22 in the standings.
Kitayama also made a sizable move, jumping from 33rd to 11th in the standings after moving to 13th on the leaderboard. Thorbjornsen, helped by an eagle at No. 15, rose to 13th and climbed 24 spots to 16th in the points race.
Seven players sit just one shot behind the leaders at 4 under.
For the other former Cal names in the field, the day went in the opposite direction. Collin Morikawa, a two-time major winner, remains in solid shape to advance after dropping just one spot in the FedEx Cup standings, even though bogeys at 17 and 18 left him with a 1-over 71 and tied for 43rd.
Max Homa began the day 52nd in the standings and slid to 56th after a double-bogey 6 at the last. He is tied for 60th, eight shots back.
Rory McIlroy is not in danger of missing the next stage, but he shot 74 and sits alone in 68th place. Scottie Scheffler, the world No. 1, is tied for 17th after a 68.
The next checkpoint comes after Sunday, when the top 50 advance and the top 30 after the BMW Championship earn spots at the Tour Championship, Aug. 27-30 at East Lake Golf Club in Atlanta, where the purse is $40 million and the winner takes $10 million.
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