Will Zalatoris continues to rise at FedEx St. Jude Championship

GERMANTOWN, Tenn. – Will Zalatoris was nine shots back in 86th place after the first round of the FedEx St. Jude Championship, so far back that his fiancée asked what he had planned for the weekend. A missed cut looked more likely than a win, but that seems like long ago.

RELATED: Leaderboard | Projected FedExCup standings

Zalatoris will enter the final round just two shots off the lead after scores of 63-65 Friday and Saturday, respectively, and could be hoisting his first PGA TOUR trophy come Sunday. His turnaround testifies to the unpredictable nature of TPC Southwind, one of the TOUR’s most penal layouts and a course with a long history of wild finishes, as recently as last year.

He trails two players who earned their first PGA TOUR wins earlier this year. Valero Texas Open winner J.J. Spaun leads at 13 under, one ahead of Honda Classic champion Sepp Straka. Zalatoris would dearly like to join them. The best player on TOUR without a win is known as a player whose best performances come on difficult courses. TPC Southwind fits that category.

The Bermuda rough penalizes players who miss the fairway, and no course on TOUR has had more balls in the water since 2003. Accuracy off the tee is crucial on a course that is not overly long. Spaun made up three shots on Straka in Saturday’s final three holes, making two birdies while Straka bogeyed 18 from the rough.

“You miss a fairway, it's hard,” said U.S. Open champion Matt Fitzpatrick, who is 9 under. “You don't know what lie you're going to get, you don't know whether you're going to get a jumper or not.”

The leaders have to look no farther than last year’s final round to see what TPC Southwind is capable of delivering. Harris English and Bryson DeChambeau combined for a back-nine 81 on Sunday while facing the pressure of being in the lead and on the clock. Sam Burns was eight back at the start of last year’s final round. Hideki Matsuyama was nine back. They shot 64 and 63, respectively, to get into a playoff won by Abraham Ancer, who began the day four off the lead.

This year, 15 players will start Sunday within four shots of Spaun’s lead, and another eight will be five back at 8 under par. There are six players within four shots of the lead who’d supplant Scottie Scheffler atop the FedExCup standings with a win: No. 2 Cameron Smith (T3), No. 12 Zalatoris (T3), the third-ranked Burns (T8), No. 10 Sungjae Im (T8), the 14th-ranked Fitzpatrick (T8) and No. 7 Tony Finau (T8).

Smith, winner of this year’s PLAYERS and The Open, also would become world No. 1 with a win.

“You look at the names, I mean, those guys, major champions and multiple winners and you've got really hot golfers that are, you know, just playing really good,” said Spaun, who shot 68 on Saturday with birdies on two of his last three holes. “It's not going to be easy tomorrow.”

One name they won’t have to worry about is Scheffler, who missed the cut after hitting three balls into the water in the first two rounds. The season’s best player was on the range Saturday, but only to kill time before next week’s BMW Championship.

Meanwhile, two players who’ve struggled to make cuts in recent months are leading. Go figure.

Spaun and Straka, who will make up the final group for the second consecutive day, have combined for one top-10 since the start of May (Spaun’s T8 two weeks ago at the Rocket Mortgage Classic). Spaun said he struggled after taking too much time off after his win, while Straka just needed a break.

Straka won his first PGA TOUR title earlier this year at another course known for having more water than Sea World, PGA National’s Champion Course. In addition to his Honda win, Straka finished in the top 10 at the RBC Heritage (T3) and THE PLAYERS, but he missed his last six cuts entering this week. What’s more, he shot 39 over par in those six events. He was 13 over par at last week’s Wyndham Championship but said the three days he took off after shooting 78-75 served him well.

What did he do?

“Absolutely nothing,” Straka said. “Watched the Braves.”

A final round at TPC Southwind may be slightly more stressful.