The FedExCup Playoffs got underway after a delay Thursday morning, as inclement weather in the Memphis, Tennessee, area pushed the start of the first round of the FedEx St. Jude Championship back more than two hours. Once it got underway, a familiar name moved out in front.

Jordan Spieth blistered his way across TPC Southwind with a bogey-free round of 7-under 63. He has a one-shot lead over Tom Kim at 6 under. The leaderboard is diverse with a mix of big names and players looking for a career-changing win. After one round, 11 of the top 14 players on the leaderboard are outside the top 20 of the Official World Golf Ranking. However, plenty of star power lurks just off the pace.

Updated odds to win FedEx St. Jude Championship (via BetMGM Sportsbook)

+650: Jordan Spieth (-7)

+750: Scottie Scheffler (-3)

+1000: Rory McIlroy (-3), Tom Kim (-6), Collin Morikawa (-5)

+1200: Xander Schauffele (-4)

+2000: Tommy Fleetwood (-4)

+2500: Emiliano Grillo (-5)

+3000: Patrick Cantlay (-2)

+3300: Cameron Young (-3), Tony Finau (-3), Cam Davis (-4)

The Playoffs have a different feel this season, with only the top 70 players making the postseason and the top 50 advancing to next week’s BMW Championship. How that affects the leaderboard over the next three days will be interesting to watch. Here's who I have my eye on heading into the second round on Friday, where wet conditions will likely linger:

Draws

Collin Morikawa (T3, +1000 to win)

I know a lot of us have been thinking about it for over a year now. Isn't Collin Morikawa due for another breakout? Setting all gut feelings aside, when Morikawa starts strong, he finishes strong. That hasn't happened much this season, but when it has, we've seen good results. In his 16 stroke-play events in 2023, Morikawa has shot 67 or better five times in his opening round. His results were second, third, sixth, 13th and second. The 13th came at THE PLAYERS, where he failed to break 70 in each of the last three rounds.

The moniker on Morikawa is usually that his putter is the club that will let him down; but if it's working, he'll be a threat. In the first round Thursday Morikawa was ninth in SG: Putting, over 100 spots above his season average of 111th. Meanwhile, other "stronger" parts of his game were mediocre (23rd in SG: Off The Tee and 29th in SG: Around The Green). If he can continue to putt well, he will be in contention on Sunday.

Xander Schauffele (T6, +1200 to win)

Schauffele's first round was quite pedestrian until his eagle on the 16th got him to 3 under. A birdie on the 18th moved his betting odds from +2500 to +1200. That number doesn't seem like a great return for a player who hasn't won in a year, but here's why you should be encouraged. The stats say Schauffele didn't play very well on Thursday. He was 50th in SG: Off-the-Tee, losing almost half a shot to the field. He was T43 in SG: Around-the-Green and lost 0.249 shots to the field.

Usually, when Schauffele is in contention at these big events he will stay steady and near the top of the leaderboard. The fact that he didn't have his best stuff on Thursday and is still in the top 10 is a good sign. The law of averages say he will play much better in the next three rounds, and he's already near the top of the leaderboard.

FADES

Jordan Spieth (Leads by 1, +650 to win)

Before Spieth Nation gets all angry at me, this is based partially on the price. At +650 it doesn't seem worth it with three days remaining. But why stay bearish on the leader? Well, you could make the argument that Spieth played the best he possibly could on Thursday: 18th in SG: Off-the-Tee, 11th in SG: Approach and ninth in SG: Putting. To cap it all off, he was first in SG: Around-the-Green thanks in large part to his eagle hole-out on No. 16. That's peak Spieth. If he keeps that up, he can easily win. But if he doesn't, he'll fall off the leaderboard. Recent history says his magic around the greens will cool off. His ball-striking will have to remain elite in order to win.

Just because Spieth has started a tournament off well doesn't mean he's going to finish strong. In 2023 alone, Spieth has opened with a round in the 60s nine times. Only two of them ended with a top-3 finish. The RBC Heritage was the only event this year where Spieth started strong and finished even better. That resulted in a playoff loss to Matt Fitzpatrick.

Cameron Young (T15, +3300 to win)

For a player with the dynamic potential of Young, sitting at 3 under with that kind of return on your money seems like a good value. I just don't think we are seeing his best golf yet. Recent success might say that Young is on his way back to competing on a regular basis like he did last season when he had seven top-3 finishes. We just haven't seen enough of it. Being in contention at The Open Championship three weeks ago helped, but I just think his confidence still needs to build. It can get there. I just don't see it being this week, especially when you're trying to pick a winner, and he has yet to break through.