Considering the city of Memphis is the birthplace of rock and roll, it’s only apt to reference the great, late Jerry Lee Lewis. It feels as if TPC Southwind, the host of this week’s FedEx St. Jude Championship, has been engulfed in a great ball of fire.
Over the past few days, the heat index has soared above 110 degrees across Southwest Tennessee, and many players have struggled in the unbearable heat.
That includes Denny McCarthy, who is not only fighting through a hip injury but faces a more precarious situation in this weather than anyone else. He talked about his perspiration issue after Thursday’s opening round.
“I sweat a lot, and I lose a lot of salt when I sweat, so I’m drinking a lot of sodium, a lot of salt before I even sweat,” McCarthy explained after his first round 4-under 66.
“I got professionally sweat tested in the fall last year just to find out more about my body, more about this sweating problem that I have. It’s helped out on some of the hotter weeks this year for sure.”
McCarthy admitted that he was not hydrating enough at last year’s FedEx St. Jude Championship, which saw similar conditions to the ones players are facing this week. McCarthy then explained how, thanks to the heat, he could not focus on his golf and thus turned in one of his worst performances of the season.
But he certainly did not struggle on Friday.
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McCarthy, who is still looking for his maiden PGA Tour title, carded a remarkable 7-under 63 to shoot up the leaderboard and grab a share of the 36-hole lead. Hideki Matsuyama, who has had an interesting week himself, also sits at 11-under for the championship alongside McCarthy.
“It was a really good round. I did everything pretty well,” McCarthy said after Friday’s round.
“I putted well. I hit a lot of good iron shots. Bounced back nicely after a couple of the bogeys I had. Yeah, everything felt really solid today.”
McCarthy is also one of the best putters on the PGA Tour, and he made that known on Friday. He drained 160 feet worth of putts, making everything from everywhere. Three of his nine birdies came from outside of 25 feet.
“I’m just trying to put the same amount of intention and focus on each putt, whether it’s short or long, trying to make it but not trying to ram it eight feet by,” McCarthy said.
“Just really trying to lock in, pick my spots, and hit as good of putts as I can.”
He did miss a few putts from a shorter range, but those long-range bombs made it for it and then some.
Yet, no pictures exist on the scorecard and McCarthy’s added up to a remarkable 63, which ties the lowest round of the week. Viktor Hovland and Sam Burns also posted 63s on Friday.
But now McCarthy will have an opportunity to relax and take a cold plunge to cool off—a great reprieve from the Memphis heat.
Jack Milko is a golf staff writer for SB Nation’s Playing Through. Be sure to check out @_PlayingThrough for more golf coverage. You can follow him on Twitter @jack_milko as well.
