Braden Thornberry makes FedEx St. Jude Classic Cut
Ole Miss star Braden Thornberry
(Ole Miss Athletics Photo)
MEMPHIS, TN (June 9, 2017) - On Friday in the second round of the FedEx St. Jude Classic Ole Miss rising junior Braden Thornberry fired a 1-under 69 to finish even-par overall and make the 36-hole cut in his first PGA Tour event.
Starting on the front side at TPC Southwind, Thornberry started slowly with bogeys on Nos. 2 and 3 to fall to 3-over and into a position where making the cut was highly in question.
The NCAA Individual champ carded his first birdie of the round on the 4th hole but a third bogey on No. 9 saw Thornberry shoot a 2-over 37 on the front side and at 3-over for the tournament.
With a missed cut seemingly in Thornberry's future the Rebel star dug deep and fired a second nine bogey-free 3-under 32 to surge to even-par and one-stroke inside the cut line.
The back nine birdies for Thornberry came on the 11th, 13th and 16th holes and he will begin the weekend tied for 58th place.
Thornberry will start his third round at 10:35 am off the 10th tee playing alongside Michael Thompson and Brian Campbell.
ROUND ONE RECAP
NCAA Individual champion Braden Thornberry has completed his first career round on the PGA Tour. Playing in this weeks FedEx St. Jude Classic at TPC Southwind the Ole Miss rising junior opened with a 1-over 71.
Teeing of on No. 10, Thornberry started quickly with a bogey-free 2-under 34 on his first nine holes. His birdies came in succession on Nos. 15 and 16 and for a time he was on the front page of the leaderboard.. After making the turn in 2-under Thornberry leaked some oil on his way to the house bogeying three-times on the second nine.
Thornberry will look to make the cut on Friday playing in the final group of the day off the first tee. For the second consecutive day Thornberry will be paired with Zack Sucher and Julian Etulain.
This summer Thornberry, who won five-times this past year for the Rebels, will make at least one more appearance on the PGA Tour. As the winner of the 2017 Haskins Award Thornberry receives an invitation to The Greenbrier Classic.