Si Woo Kim flies high with 18th-hole eagle to share FedEx lead with JJ Spaun

Si Woo Kim marked a strong start to the FedEx Cup play-offs with an eagle as he carded an eight-under 62 and snatched a share of the lead with JJ Spaun.

The South Korean admitted to being “excited” to pull off a “perfect” shot, after he holed out from 167 yards on the par-four 18th to cap a strong finish of six-under on his last six holes at the FedEx St Jude Championship, the first of three play-off events.

“I was just trying to, like, (see) 10 feet on left side and it was (a) perfect shot, (it) came off,” he told reporters.

“Yeah, I was excited,” he added.

His American co-leader, meanwhile, had eight birdies at TPC Southwind in Memphis as he said it was “hot out here”.

“I’m hot, figuratively and literally, I guess. It’s hot out here,” Spaun told reporters.

“I think I putted really well and I drove it really well. I guess I hit 15 out of 18 greens, so that’s a pretty good combo. When you’re hitting a lot of greens and putting well and hitting fairways, it’s hard to complain about how I played today.”

Spaun’s compatriot Sahith Theegala was at seven-under followed by a group of four including Tony Finau a further shot back, while England’s Tyrrell Hatton was at five-under.

Two-time FedEx Cup champion Rory McIlroy carded an even-par 70, along with Scotland’s Russell Knox, to be eight strokes off the pace.