By Brian Wacker, PGATOUR.COM

Harris English is in just his second year on the PGA TOUR. After a 64 Friday, he'll enter the weekend at the FedEx St. Jude Classic in position to chase his first win.

"I'm still getting comfortable out here," the 23-year-old University of Georgia alum said. "Just trying to get in the hunt of a golf tournament every time."

So far, so good.

English has three top 10s this season and Friday he had five birdies, an eagle and justone bogey.

The eagle came on the par-4 fifth, where English holed out from 175 yards.

"I was playing a little short of it because that green goes front to back pretty good down grain," he said. "It landed about 10, 12 feet short and kicked right and rolled right in."

At one point, it looked like English might have a big lead, getting to 11 under for the week after two more birdies on the back nine. But he bogeyed the 18th, and it was still early in the second round.

"When I get in that kind of situation, everything is pretty much going my way and I'm very much in control of my ball," English said. "I'm really trying to birdie every hole."

By Brian Wacker, PGATOUR.COM

Fortunately for David Toms, his first few holes of the day wasn't any indication of how his opening round of the FedEx St. Jude Classic would go.

Toms three-putted the 10th hole after starting on the back nine, birdied his next and made another bogey, on No. 11.

"I wasn't in control of my first nine holes," Toms said. "I made a couple birdies but hit some wayward shots. My last nine I played great."

Indeed.

Toms made three birdies in a four-hole stretch at one point and shot 3-under 67, leaving him near the lead after the first round at TPC Southwind.

"The short game is a little bit tougher around the greens now with the greens being firmer, bermuda, you can't just fire your chips at the hole and they stop," Toms said. "You really have to pay attention and the rough is up in places, other places, you know, it's fine, but there's some thick areas that you don't want to be in, so overall it's a very demanding golf course."

Toms is looking for his third career win at the event. He won there in 2003 and 2004.

"I would take (2 under) every day," he said. "I just feel good about the way I finished up today, the way I played the last 9 holes. I need to build on that, get some confidence and hopefully continue to play great."

By Brian Wacker, PGATOUR.COM

The upside to Phil Mickelson's opening 1-over 71 Thursday was that he's still well within reach of the lead at the FedEx St. Jude Classic.

But he still left TPC Southwind disappointed.

"My short game was not good today," Mickelson said. "I made a mistake in some of my shot selection trying to hit some of the shots."

Mickelson's problems began on the 15th hole -- he started on the back nine -- when he missed the green left on his approach then pitched 30 feet past the hole. He made bogey.

A hole later things went from bad to worse when Mickelson's second shot on the par 5 landed in a greenside bunker and he hit over the putting surface on his third shot.

Mickelson's fourth shot found the sand again, and he took three more to get home for a double bogey.

The trouble continued on the 17th, where Mickelson came up just short of the green on the par 4, hit another poor chip shot and eventually made bogey.

The only thing that helped salvage Mickelson's round were three straight birdies on the front nine.

"I really feel like I'm striking the ball well," Mickelson said. "The score obviously isn't very good ... This is the first competitive round in a little while and I'm looking forward to (Friday's) round because I know that ball striking-wise, it's about as good as I've been striking it and I feel like there's a good round in me."

Mickelson is making his third career appearance in Memphis this week. (Heathcote/Getty Images)

By Brian Wacker, PGATOUR.COM

After a disappointing finish in the year's first major, Phil Mickelson knew he wanted to play the week before the next one.

"I know that for me to be sharp mentally, especially in a tournament where the penalty for missing is so great, like the U.S. Open, it's important that I'm sharp and I'm ready to play," he said Wednesday from the FedEx St. Jude Classic.

It's just the third career appearance in the event and first since 2009 for Mickelson. Things worked out pretty well for him the last two times he showed up at TPC Southwind, at least the following week.

Four years ago in Memphis, Mickelson finished 55th and shot 75 in the final round. A week later, he finished second in the U.S. Open at Bethpage Black.

After finishing 54th at this year's Masters, when he took a week off before the tournament, and missing the cut in his last start, at THE PLAYERS Championship, Mickelson is hoping a return trip to the FedEx St. Jude Classic will help.

And there are more similarities between TPC Southwind and Merion Golf Club than you might think.

"The greens are small, they're difficult to get the ball stopped on, and there are a lot of cool little shots around the greens," he said. "The precision of the iron shot into the green as well as the importance of hitting fairways here is a similar style of golf that will happen at Merion next week."

Nonetheless, Mickelson spent Monday and Tuesday practicing at Merion, which he hadn't played since the 1989 U.S. Amateur.

"It's really a wonderful setup," he said. "It didn't look tricked up at all. It's the best (U.S. Open setup) I've seen."

High praise for a player who doesn't dole it out on a whim.

"I think the reason I like it so much is they've made the hard holes more difficult. But they did not make the easy holes harder," he said. "They gave you birdie opportunities on the easy holes, and they made tough pars a little bit harder, which allows the player that is playing well to separate himself from the field."

Mickelson has five career runner-up finishes in the U.S. Open, most of which have come when he has played the week before.

In 2006, he finished 18th at the Barclays Classic before a runner-up at nearby Winged Foot, where he famously double-bogeyed the final hole to hand the trophy to Geoff Ogilvy.

Two years earlier at Shinnecock Hills, Mickelson again played the Barclays, finishing 16th, before a runner-up to Retief Goosen. Ditto 2002, when he came up short to Tiger Woods at Bethpage Black.

There were other good finishes, too.

Mickelson missed the cut in his first trip to Memphis in 2001 but was seventh at Southern Hills that year, and in 1995 he missed the cut at the Kemper Open before a fourth-place finish at Shinnecock Hills.

But he's also had his moments with a week off.

In 1999, Mickelson came up just short against Payne Stewart at Pinehurst. In 2010, he was fifth at the Memorial tournament before entering the weekend two shots off the lead at Pebble Beach, where he eventually finished fourth.

There's one thing Mickelson -- nor anyone else -- has ever done, though.

No player has ever won the week before the U.S. Open and go on to win that, too.

Woods has seven wins over the last 12 months. (Halleran/Getty Images)

By Brian Wacker, PGATOUR.COM

Tiger Woods is No. 1 in the FedExCup standings, No. 1 in the world and again No. 1 on Forbes' annual ranking of the world's highest paid athletes.

Woods occupied the top spot every year from 2001 until 2012, when boxer Floyd Mayweather moved to No. 1.

The magazine estimates that Woods took in $78.1 million over the last year in prize money, endorsements, appearance fees and course design work.

Other golfers to make the top 100 include Phil Mickelson at No. 7 ($48.7 million), world No. 2 Rory McIlroy at 21st ($29.6 million), Ernie Els at 78th ($19.5 million) and defending FedExCup champion Brandt Snedeker at 81st ($19 million).

Rounding out the top five are Roger Federer ($71.5 million), Kobe Bryant ($61.9 million), LeBron James ($59.8 million) and Drew Brees ($51 million).

Over the last 12 months, Woods has won seven times, including four times this season, and earned $13.1 million in prize money -- double the previous year.

By Brian Wacker, PGATOUR.COM

It's been an up-and-down year for Dustin Johnson, who won the season-opener in Hawaii but has battled a bad back in recent weeks. Maybe a return to Memphis will help his ails. Last year, Johnson won the FedEx St. Jude Classic in what was just his second start in three months.

Below is a closer look at Johnson's group for the first two rounds of this year's tournament and a few others to keep an eye on. Let us know what your favorite group is in the comments section (click here for all tee times).

Dustin Johnson-Brandt Snedeker-Davis Love III: As mentioned, Johnson is the defending champion but he comes in rusty. He missed the cut last week at Muirfield Village and has made just two starts since April. Snedeker, meanwhile, is the defending FedExCup champion but is also coming off a missed cut. Love, meanwhile, finished third in Memphis last year. They'll tee off at 1:27 p.m. ET on Thursday and 8:27 a.m. on Friday.

Billy Horschel-Russell Henley-John Merrick: Horschel has cooled since his meteoric stretch of four straight top 10s, which included his first career win. Merrick, meanwhile, has broken 70 in seven of his last eight rounds at TPC Southwind and finished second and 11th there the last two years. Henley is coming off a tie for sixth at Muirfield Village. They'll tee off at 1:36 p.m. ET on Thursday and 8:36 a.m. ET Friday.

Phil Mickelson-D.A. Points-Padraig Harrington: Harrington likes to play the week before a major; Mickelson does, too, at least this year. Points has been feast or famine this year with a win and a runner-up to go with eight missed cuts in 17 starts. They'll tee off at 8:27 a.m. ET on Thursday and 1:27 p.m. Friday.

Boo Weekley-Ian Poulter-David Toms: Weekley is coming off his first victory in five years after winning at Colonial. Poulter and Toms have each missed their last two cuts on TOUR, though Toms has won twice before in Memphis. They'll tee off at 8:36 a.m. ET on Thursday and 1:36 p.m. on Friday.

Lee Janzen was disqualified for wearing metal spikes at his U.S. Open qualifier. (Cohen/Getty Images)

By Brian Wacker, PGATOUR.COM

In one of the strangest rules situations ever, Lee Janzen was disqualified from U.S. Open sectional qualifying on Monday for wearing metal spikes.

Janzen had just finished lunch after his first 18 holes of a 36-hole qualifier at Woodmont Country Club in Rockville, Md., and and was standing by his bag on the putting green when an official approached him and asked if he was wearing metal spikes.

"He said, 'You can't wear metal spikes,' and I was disqualified," Janzen said via cell phone. "I have never not worn metal spikes. I've played in U.S. Open qualifiers every year since 2009 in Memphis (Tenn.) and Columbus (Ohio) and always wore metal."

Janzen added that the local rule was in a letter e-mailed to contestants, but he overlooked it.

"It never entered my mind," the two-time U.S. Open champion said. "Considering I've played professional tournaments every week for 24 yeas now, I had no reason (to look at the rules sheet) to see if I was conforming."

Janzen wasn't blaming the USGA, he said -- it just wasn't something he was aware of. He also said nothing was posted at the event or on the local rules sheet.

Securing one of the eight spots up for grabs at Woodmont CC -- one of 11 qualifying spots around the country -- would have been a tall order for Janzen after shooting 75 in his first 18 holes.

"I justed wanted to get some momentum going because I'm playing in Memphis this week, too," he said. "If I could've played another 18 at least I could gain some confidence."

This wasn't the first time a player wearing metal spikes was eliminated from a U.S. Open qualifier, however. In 2006, Steve Elkington withdrew in Houston when he found out he couldn't wear them.

The most famous rules sheet snafu in recent history involved Dustin Johnson at the 2010 PGA Championship at Whistling Straits. Not realizing a local rule was in place deeming all sandy areas as hazards, Johnson grounded his club in what was deemed a bunker on the 18th hole and was assessed a two-stroke penalty, causing him to miss out on a playoff.

As for Janzen, he has made seven starts on the PGA TOUR this season, missing the cut in five of them. He also has three starts on the Web.com Tour, missing the cut in all of them.

His last start in a U.S. Open came in 2008 at Torrey Pines, where missed the cut.

"It's not a great situation," he said. "The good news is I didn't shoot 65. Then I would be really mad."

Paul Goydos hasn't played since last February. (Halleran/Getty Images)

Paul Goydos joins PGA TOUR Insiders Hangout on Wednesday at 12 p.m. ET

By Brian Wacker, PGATOUR.COM

It has been more than 15 months since Paul Goydos last played on the PGA TOUR.

That will change at this week's FedEx St. Jude Classic, where Goydos is making his season debut after missing most of last year following a left hand and wrist injury that would require two surgeries.

"I need to figure out where (my game) is at," Goydos said via cell phone as he prepared to board a plane to Memphis on Sunday night. "You really can't simulate a TOUR event."

Goydos, who will turn 49 later this month, had a bone spur that was irritating a tendon removed from the wrist in March. Tendinitis in his left wrist has persisted throughout his career.

In October, he had another procedure done to remove a bone spur from his left index finger.

"From a pain management standpoint, I'm fine," said Goydos, who has two career wins and is one of five players to have shot 59 on TOUR. "But I want to give me hand a test, hitting balls seven straight days and all the rigors that go with playing a tournament.”

Goydos made just six starts in 2012 before missing the remainder of the season.

If all goes well in Memphis, Goydos will also play in the Travelers Championship two weeks later. After that, he'll assess the situation.

"I've gone as far as I can go at home, it's time to go out and evaluate my game," Goydos said. "The second thing I need to evaluate is if I'm ready to compete inside the ropes and that will be based on how I handle it more than what I shoot."

By Brian Wacker, PGATOUR.COM

Spencer Levin will play in the U.S. Open sectional qualifier in Columbus, Ohio, on June 3.

It will be the first time Levin has played competitively this year after undergoing surgery to repair a torn ligmanet in his left thumb last fall.

Levin, who spent Tuesday racing around Indianapolis Motor Speedway with 2013 Indianapolis 500 qualifier and IZOD teammate A.J. Allmendinger, said he also plans to play some Web.com Tour events beginning in late August.

The U.S. Open will take place June 13-16 at Merion Golf Club.

Last season, Levin had a half-dozen top 25s in 26 starts and finished 45th in the FedExCup standings. He made just under $1.3 million.

By Brian Wacker, PGATOUR.COM

The summer of Guan Tianlang continues.

The 14-year-old Chinese amateur has accepted a sponsor exemption into the FedEx St. Jude Classic, the tournament announced on Wednesday.

"Guan's invitation was a no-brainer," said tournament director Phil Cannon. “He certainly has made a big splash in the sports world. And we are excited our fans will get to witness history. It's remarkable that he did not have a three-putt green in 72 holes at Augusta."

Guan, who was the youngest player to participate in the Masters before finishing as the low amateur at Augusta National, is also in the field for next week's Memorial tournament presented by Nationwide Insurance.

The FedEx St. Jude Classic will be his fourth event on a sponsor exemption. As a non-member of the PGA TOUR, he is allowed to accept up to seven sponsor exemptions.

Guan earned his spot in the Masters by winning the Asia-Pacific Amateur Championship.

In his two starts since the Masters, Guan finished 71st in New Orleans and missed the cut last week in Dallas.