Cal Alum Michael Kim Shares the Lead at the FedEx St. Jude Championship

Former Cal golfer Michael Kim seems determined to keep his season alive.

The 33-year-old native of South Korea, who began Thursday in 61st place in the FedEx Cup standings, jumped 37 spots after finishing the afternoon tied for the lead at the St. Jude Championship at Memphis.

There is work still do to this weekend as Kim needs to be among the top 50 in the FedEx Cup standings after Sunday to continue play a week from now. But his 5-under par 65 was a great start, elevating him to a projected ranking of No. 24.

None of the other 68 players in the field at TPC Southwind enjoyed such a boost in the opening round of the first of three weeks of the FedEx Cup playoffs.

The winner of just one PGA Tour title since turning pro in 2013, Kim made birdies on the 15th and 17th holes to pull even at the top of the leaderboard with Jordan Spieth, Michael Thorbjornsen, Kurt Kitayama and Jake Knapp.

The top 50 after Sunday advance to the BMW Championship next week at Bellerive CC in St.. Louis, and also earn spots in all eight signature events on the 2027 PGA Tour calendar.

“I feel like I was in a similar situation last year, where I was trying to get into East Lake at the BMW,” Kim, who will qualify to play at St. Louis if he finishes in a three-way tie for 12th place or better on Sunday, told GolfWeek. “I knew I wanted to try and stay ahead of the projections. So really nice to get off to a good start.”

The top 30 in the FedEx Cup standings after the BMW Championship will play the Tour Championship, Aug. 27-30 at East Lake Golf Club in Atlanta, where golfers will compete for a $40 million purse, with $10 million going to the winner.

Kim is in the midst of one of the hottest stretches of his career, having secured two top-10 finishes in his past three tournaments. He tied for eighth at the Rocket Classic and shared 10th place at the 3M Open.

He arrived at Memphis needing to make a move up the standings, and his 12th under-par round over his past 13 did the trick. He was 4 under through eight holes after birdies on Nos. 2, 3, 5 and 8.

A bogey on No. 9 was his only misstep on the day, and he leveled out with pars on 10 through 14. The two late birdies completed his clutch performance.

Seven players are one stroke back, tied for sixth at 4 under.

Spieth, the 13-time tour winner and three-time major champion, also needs a productive weekend to keep his season alive. He had five birdies over the final 10 holes to get to 65 and boost his FedEx Cup spot in the standings from No. 54 to a projected No. 22.

Kitiyama climbed 22 rungs from 33 to 11 in the standings, Thorbjornsen, with an eagle on No. 15, moved to 13th and jumped 24 spots to 16th.

It was a much tougher day for two other former Cal stars.

Two-time major winner Collin Morikawa remains in solid position to play next week, thanks to a No. 6 FedEx Up rank that dropped just one spot Thursday after bogeys on the 17th and 18th hole left him at 1-over 71 and tied for 43rd on the leaderboard.

Max Homa began the day at No. 52 in the standings and slipped four spots to No. 56 after a double-bogey 6 on the 18th hole. That put him in an eight-way tie for 60th place, eight strokes off the lead.

Rory McIlroy, in no danger of failing to advance in the playoffs, shot a 74 and is alone in 68th place. World No. 1 Scottie Scheffler is tied for 17th after carding a 68.

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