Fairways and greens. That was the early recipe for success for Kevin Stadler. Stadler opened with three birdies in the first eight holes of his third round and jumped out to a two-shot lead at the FedEx St. Jude Classic. He then dropped back into a tie for the lead after a double-bogey 6 on No. 9. Earlier, Stadler was first in fairways and greens in regulation for the week. He has won twice on the European Tour and four times on the Nationwide Tour, but is still looking for his first PGA TOUR win. Stadler is 51st in FedExCup points, registering top 10s at the RBC Heritage (T4), the Puerto Rico Open presented by seepuertorico.com (T7) and The Honda Classic (T9).

Rory McIlroy is happy he teed it up this week. The fact that he’s in contention is a bonus. Speaking on the PGA TOUR Network on SiriusXM Satellite Radio before his round on Saturday, McIlroy talked about some of the criticism he’s received for adding the FedEx St. Jude Classic to his schedule the week before he defends his U.S. Open title at The Olympic Club. “No one knows me better than myself and how I’m feeling,” said McIlroy, who had missed three straight cuts prior to this week. “What might work for some people might not work for me. I don’t mind changing it up if I feel like it’s going to help me with my preparations going into such a big event like next week. “So far this has really helped me get some competitive rounds. I’m in contention going into the weekend so that can only help as well.” McIlroy, paired today with J.B. Holmes, looked a lot like his old self on Friday, hitting a number of big drives and towering iron shots. McIlroy opened par-bogey and trailed the leaders by one shot after his first two holes in the third round.

Can Rory McIlroy keep his momentum? Will J.B. Holmes surge to the top in what would be an inspirational victory success story? And what about John Daly? Those are just a few of the storylines heading into the third round of the FedEx St. Jude Classic today in Memphis, Tenn. You can follow along on Shot Tracker or watch when television coverage begins at 3 p.m. ET on CBS. Or both! McIlroy put a string of three straight missed cuts behind him by carding a second-round, 5-under 65 -- a performance that included a number of major championship-caliber shots -- to move to the top of the leaderboard when play ended on Friday evening. Holmes shot a 64, which included a blistering 6-under 29 on his front side. We'll see if he can get off to a hot start once again. Daly, who was tied for 12th entering the day, is on pace for his best PGA TOUR finish of the season. He tied for 41st at the Crowne Plaza Invitational at Colonial -- his best finish in four previous events. And then there is Jonathan Fly, the former Memphis golfer making his PGA TOUR debut. Fly shot a 78 on Thursday and then rebounded with a 64. Not too shabby. So what do you think? Will McIlroy take home the title a week before he defends his U.S. Open championship at The Olympic Club? Will it be Holmes? Or is there a sleeper out there?

  By Bill Cooney, PGATOUR.COM Rory McIlroy is gaining confidence. It's identifiable in the inflection of his voice. It's visable by the way he's attacking the flag again. McIlroy birdied three of his final four holes for a 5-under 65 on Friday to take the outright lead at 7 under at the midway point of the FedEx St. Jude Classic in Memphis, Tenn. McIlroy hit his share of huge drives and towering iron shots, looking more like the player who won the U.S. Open last year at Congressional than the one who had missed three straight cuts. "You know, it was a really, really good round of golf out there today," said McIlroy, who also eagled the par-5 third hole after hitting his second shot to 9 feet. "I saw a lot of positive signs with my ball-striking. Hit a lot of good iron shots and drivers. So that was something that I was really working on the last couple of weeks and feels like it's coming together for me. So excited to be in this position going into the week." McIlroy held a one-shot lead over J.B. Holmes (64), first-round co-leader Jeff Maggert (68) and Kevin Stadler (65). John Merrick (69), who shared the 18-hole lead with Maggert, Chad Campbell (67) and Kevin Kisner (66) were only two shots back. Holmes carded an outward 6-under 29 and is looking for his first PGA TOUR win since 2008. He seems to be returning to form -- he had a T13 last week at the Memorial Tournament presented by Nationwide Insurance -- after undergoing brain surgery in September. "I just kind of hit everything -- I wasn't knocking pins down, but I hit them in there pretty close," Holmes said. "Made a couple 6-footers, but I putted well. I was hitting it 15, 20 feet and making some putts." McIlroy, meanwhile, still had room for improvement. He bogeyed Nos. 12 and 13 and did miss some short putts. He missed from 3 feet for par on 13 and also missed a 3 1/2-footer for eagle on 16 after his second shot settled just past the hole. "Could have been even better," McIlroy said. "Could have made eagle on 16, but, you know, to finish strong the way I did was great and it gives me momentum going into tomorrow." McIlroy, ranked eighth in FedExCup points, tallied four top-3 finishes in his first five events on the PGA TOUR this season -- which included a victory at The Honda Classic. He then missed cuts at THE PLAYERS, BMW PGA Championship and the Memorial. But it appears those struggles are behind him -- at least this week. "It's nice to see my name on that part of the leaderboard," McIlroy said. "It's not nice when you're struggling to make the cut on a Friday afternoon. It was great. It's nice to be through to the weekend, obviously. It's obviously even nicer to be leading and have a great chance."

Rory McIlroy looked like his old self with this second shot on the par-5 16th hole at TPC Southwind. He's improving by the day, and it's shots like these that we've been used to seeing from him. McIlroy went on to make birdie en route to a 5-under 65 that put him in sole possession of the lead at the FedEx St. Jude Classic on Friday. Stay tuned for more on McIlroy.

Jonathan Fly said he's played more than 500 rounds of golf at TPC Southwind. So you could imagine his frustration when he carded a 78 in his PGA TOUR debut on Thursday. "But I just told myself forget about it, it's just golf," Fly said on Friday. "Whatever happens, happens. I did the best I could today." His best was pretty good. Fly, a former University of Memphis golfer, holed out from the fairway for an eagle 2 on the first hole en route to a 6-under 64 in the second round of the FedEx St. Jude Classic. Fly made the cut on the number at 2 over. "Yesterday there were a lot of nerves, and making a 2 on 1 today kind of helped me settle into everything," said Fly, who was 179 yards away on No. 1. "Kind of got a bad break off the tee. Dropped straight down, I had a 6-iron into 1 and ended up making it. Good way to start." Fly, who is playing on a sponsor's exemption, also had seven birdies and three bogeys in his round. The hightlight -- other than his hole-out -- was sinking a 50-footer for birdie on No. 6. This season, Fly had a 72.16 average and was the Conference USA Championship medalist for the Tigers. He tied for 69th at the recent NCAA Championships at Riviera Country Club near Los Angeles, going 71-71-81. As for his expectations for Saturday? "I'll take another one of these," Fly said. Click here to replay Fly's round .

We were just discussing this at the office. Is there a simpler looking golf swing out there than Jeff Maggert's? He just makes it look so easy. Maggert has won three times on the PGA TOUR. His last was at the 2006 FedEx St. Jude Classic and he's playing well here again this week. Maggert carded a 2-under 68 and was tied for second place with J.B. Holmes and Kevin Stadler. What do you think? Does another player on the PGA TOUR come to mind for simplest swing? Click here to replay Maggert's round.

By Bill Cooney, PGATOUR.COM Once J.B. Holmes made the decision to have brain surgery in September, he never looked back. There was little worrying. Hardly any thought that he'd never compete again on the PGA TOUR. "I never really let it go more than just a second thinking I might never come back," Holmes said Friday, after firing a 6-under 64 in the second round of the FedEx St. Jude Classic. "I always say well, I'll be back in January and I'll be a hundred percent and I won't have these symptoms. That's really the only way I looked at it." His performance this week is proof that Holmes is feeling fine. The two-time PGA TOUR winner carded a 6-under 29 on the front nine and would finish in the lead at 6 under after the morning wave completed play. At the end of the day, Holmes was one shot behind leader Rory McIlroy. Holmes, 30, had surgery in September at Johns Hopkins Hospital in Baltimore in which doctors removed a small portion of his skull in order to relieve pressure that was causing vertigo-like symptoms. About a month later, he was airlifted back to the hospital due to an allergic reaction from the glue used on the titanium plate that was initially inserted into his skull. "I knew being dizzy, having headaches and everything that I couldn't keep my card, I couldn't play out here anymore, so I had to get something done," Holmes said. "So it was almost a relief to find out that the surgery was something that could help the symptoms and everything. ... "At the end of the day, when you get down, you really sit back and realize it's not that important and you can always -- there's a tournament every week.  You can play somewhere almost every week." Holmes has been playing quite well just about every week this season. In 13 events, he's tallied two top 10s and four top 25s. He's also coming off a T13 at the Memorial Tournament presented by Nationwide Insurance. And he looks to be rounding into form for the stretch run of the season. Holmes, who hit 14 greens in regulation on Friday, would like nothing more than to finish the weekend with his first victory since 2008.  "Played really well today, hit my irons great and made a few putts on the front side and it was a good round for me," he said.