Jordan Spieth opens with bogey-free 65, keeps BMW Championship hopes alive at FedEx St. Jude Championship

MEMPHIS, Tenn. – Jordan Spieth's 2026 season has been a familiar, erratic story – flashes of the Spieth that won three majors in three seasons, but not enough memorable results. He made the FedExCup Playoffs without a single top-10 finish all year, the only player to do so.

But it will take more of what he showed Thursday in Memphis for Spieth to advance out of TPC Southwind and into the BMW Championship for the first time since 2023.

The stakes were clear entering the FedEx St. Jude Championship: Spieth arrived in Memphis at No. 54 in the FedExCup standings, needing a solo 23rd finish to have a mathematical shot at qualifying for next week’s event at Bellerive Country Club.

Spieth, now 33, hasn't hoisted a trophy on TOUR in over four years, with his last win coming at the 2022 RBC Heritage. His last top-10 finish came over a year ago, at THE CJ CUP Byron Nelson, where he finished fourth.

“Outside looking in versus inside trying to hold onto it is a little different mentality, maybe helpful, but after a good start that all changes, right?” Spieth said after his 5-under 65 on Thursday. “I'm just in a very different place about the game of golf than I was the last couple seasons heading into this event.”

Since missing the cut at The Open, Spieth has posted nine straight rounds of 70 or better, so the game is trending in the right direction. Now it’s time for the Dallas native to reignite the fire that carried him to 13 PGA TOUR victories, including three major championships.

Thursday's round showed signs of it on the par-5 third, where Spieth hit his drive into porta-potties, well left of the fairway.

"I don't know what happened on the drive," Spieth said. "I haven't hit a high hook in 20 years."

After punching out, he stuck his approach shot from 225 yards out to 20 feet and managed to save par.

“It was definitely my best swing of the day,” Spieth said. “I haven't had that shot in a long time. I've had it lately, but I haven't had it other years.

“Just knowing that I'm a lot better golfer than I've been in a very long time and continue to believe in that,” he continued. “If low scores come, they come. If they don't, it doesn't change the fact that I know that I'm better than I've been in a long time. That mentality is what I came into today and stuck with it throughout the round, and it paid off.”

Spieth kicked it into gear on the par-4 ninth, kicking off a stretch of five birdies over his next seven holes. At the par-3 11th, Spieth drained a 40-footer for birdie to grab the early solo lead. From there, he never looked back, adding three more birdies at Nos. 12, 13 and 15.

He finished his opening round bogey-free and in a strong position to punch his ticket to the BMW Championship. But even if he doesn't make it to St. Louis, he is hesitant to call this season a failure because of how it sets him up for 2027.

"If it's going to work out, great," Spieth said. "If it doesn't, I know next year is going to be an awesome year for me. So it takes a lot of the stress off of this week."

One day down. Three days under the red-hot Memphis sun to go.