Weekley leads in Memphis

Boo Weekley holds a one-stroke lead after the opening round of the Stanford St Jude Championship.

Weekley fired a five-under-par 65 at TPC Southwind, holing six birdies against one bogey.

Tommy Armour III is alone in second at four-under 66, with Vijay Singh third following a 67.

Sergio Garcia is among a group of seven players tied for fourth on two-under.

Davis Love III, Justin Leonard, Cody Freeman, Craig Kanada, Marc Turnesa and Stuart Appleby also shot 68s.

Ireland’s Padraig Harrington is tied for 39th on one-over-par.

Defending champion Woody Austin also struggled to a one-over 71, managing just two birdies against a double bogey on the par-three 14th hole and a bogey on the 17th.

Weekley started with consecutive birdies and then cooled off, bogeying the fourth and making the turn at one-under.

A birdie at the 10th hole was followed by another at the 12th before he closed his round with birdies on two of his final three holes, including one on 18 from about 12 feet.

"I picked a good line there and made it," Weekley said of his closing birdie. "Pretty good putting today."

Weekley was pleased with his overall performance.

"I drove the ball well today for a change and my irons were superb," he added. "I hit my irons real good and then my putting, my putting was excellent today."

Weekley's performance on the greens in part can be attributed to an advance scouting trip he took to Southwind on Saturday. Weekley missed the cut at the Memorial and, as he saw it, had nothing better to do.

"What prompted me, I missed the cut at the Memorial and I didn't want to hang around over there," Weekley said.

"I went around there and hit a lot of putts on Saturday and Sunday. Just being able to come out and play early might not be an advantage, but it gives you a little bit of a head start."

Armour started his round on the 10th and had two birdies on his first nine holes.

He added three more on his back nine, but a bogey at the par-three eighth dropped him a shot off the lead.

"I was happy," Armour said. "The rough isn't real deep. So, I mean, if you get blown off in the rough, it's not penal like next week would be.

"You've got to hit the shots because the greens are firm, and the greens are perfect. The course is in great shape."