Despite facing distressing circumstances stemming from a robbery in London earlier in the week, Hideki Matsuyama holds a share of the 36-hole lead with Denny McCarthy at the FedEx St. Jude Championship.

McCarthy has also had to overcome his fair share of struggles, which include a perspiration issue and a nagging hip injury that has bothered him for quite some time.

Yet, despite these setbacks, both players soared to the top of the leaderboard on Friday as they each sit at 11-under-par. McCarthy shot a 7-under 63, the lowest round of the week, matched by Viktor Hovland and Sam Burns earlier in the day on Friday. Matsuyama, meanwhile, posted a 6-under 64, a round that included seven birdies and one bogey on the par-3 4th.

Speaking of Burns, the Texan got off to a blistering start on Friday, going birdie-eagle-birdie on the 2nd, 3rd, and 4th holes. He went on to shoot a 6-under 29 on the front side, which ultimately became a 63. Burns sits one back of Matsuyama and McCarthy at 10-under-par.

But the best player in the world is lurking at 9-under, one back of Burns and two off the lead. Scottie Scheffler played flawless yet again, shooting a bogey-free, 5-under 65 to climb up the leaderboard and into solo fourth. He remains the odds-on favorite at the midway point of the championship, and it would surprise nobody if he won a seventh PGA Tour title on Sunday in Memphis. It would shock everybody if he did not contend, faltered, and failed to post another top-5 finish.

Photo by Matthew Maxey/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images

With that said, the oppressive heat in Memphis has led many players to struggle through 36 holes. Look at Rory McIlroy, Jordan Spieth, and Cameron Young, each of whom failed to break par over the first two rounds.

But anything can happen, especially considering bad weather is forecasted in the afternoon. As such, the PGA Tour moved up tee times to earlier in the day. Groups will go off in threesomes, which will lead to a longer round in the heat, humidity, and swampy conditions.

* – Denotes 10th tee start

10:45 a.m. — Adam Scott, Sepp Straka, Maverick McNealy

10:45 a.m.* — Alex Noren, Davis Thompson, Matthieu Pavon

10:56 a.m. — Wyndham Clark, Seamus Power, Eric Cole

10:56 a.m.* — Shane Lowry, Min Woo Lee, Keegan Bradley

11:07 a.m. — Austin Eckroat, Justin Thomas, Akshay Bhatia

11:07 a.m.* — J.T. Poston, Corey Conners, Jason Day

11:18 a.m. — Tommy Fleetwood, Taylor Pendrith, Emiliano Grillo

11:18 a.m.* — Tom Hoge, Patrick Cantlay, Byeong Hun An

11:29 a.m. — Christiaan Bezuidenhout, Russell Henley, Ben Griffin

11:29 a.m.* — Sahith Theegala, Victor Perez, Cameron Davis

11:40 a.m. — Brendon Todd, Harris English, Nick Taylor

11:40 a.m.* — Sungjae Im, Ludvig Åberg, Collin Morikawa

11:51 a.m. — Xander Schauffele, Tom Kim, Brian Harman

11:51 a.m.* — Peter Malnati, Patrick Rodgers, Stephan Jaeger

12:02 p.m. — Matt Fitzpatrick, Aaron Rai, Tony Finau

12:02 p.m.* — Taylor Moore, Mackenzie Hughes, Cameron Young

12:13 p.m. — Erik van Rooyen, Will Zalatoris, Chris Kirk

12:13 p.m.* — Rory McIlroy, Adam Hadwin, Thomas Detry

12:24 p.m. — Viktor Hovland, Robert MacIntyre, Billy Horschel

12:24 p.m.* — Jhonattan Vegas, Jordan Spieth, Max Greyserman

12:35 p.m. — Scottie Scheffler, Justin Rose, Nick Dunlap

12:35 p.m.* — Mark Hubbard, Si Woo Kim

12:46 p.m. — Denny McCarthy, Hideki Matsuyama, Sam Burns

12:46 p.m.* — Jake Knapp, Max Homa

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.