Charl Schwartzel is one behind the quartet of Matt Every, Scott Brown, Stuart Cink and Sebastian Munoz, who each shot 6-under 64s on Thursday at the FedEx St. Jude Classic.
Joining Schwartzel in the leading pack is Matt Jones at the final tuneup before the US Open.
The South African was the early leader on Thursday, making the most of his early tee time as he raced up the leaderboard and was -4 after six holes. Three pars followed as he made the turn in 31 on the par 70 layout at the TPC Southwind course.
His back nine began in the worst possible fashion as he dropped a shot at 10 before adding two further pars. Schwartzel made birdie on 13 before giving one back on the par 3 14th. Two birdies followed for Schwartzel, who is finding some much-needed form going into Erin Hills next week.
Two-time US Open champion Retief Goosen and Chez Reavie each shot a 66. Ernie Els is -2 after an opening 68, which featured three bogeys in his opening five holes and a closing stretch which included an eagle on 16, a birdie on 17 and a par on the 18th.
South African Rory Sabbatini is +4 after round one, one shot worse than Tyrone Van Aswegen.
The 33-year-old Every has two wins on the PGA TOUR, but none since 2014. He’s only made two cuts this year and hasn’t finished better than a tie for 62nd at the Arnold Palmer Invitational presented by MasterCard in March.
‘I haven’t played real well in a couple years, and I’ve been out here for like seven or eight, so I kind of know the drill,’ Every said.
‘Like one round is not that big a deal. It is nice to play well, but yeah, they don’t hand out trophies after the first round.’
Every had four birdies during his round and an eagle on the par-5 16th, sticking his second shot about 10 feet from the flagstick before sinking the putt. He closed his round by making a 30-foot birdie putt on the 18th.
‘Middle of the round got a little away from me, but I saved some shots and I haven’t been doing that lately,’ Every said. ‘Then I played pretty solid the last few holes. So it was just a good day. I was kind of due for one.’
Cink, Brown and Munoz joined him by making afternoon charges up the leaderboard.
Munoz, a 24-year-old, third-year pro from Colombia, who’s chasing his first victory on TOUR, was bogey-free during the best round of his career. He had six birdies, including two in a row on Nos 15-16.
Photo: Andy Lyons/Getty Images
