MEMPHIS, Tenn. – Before sports was halted by COVID-19 in March, Brendon Todd was arguably the PGA Tour’s most consistent player.

He was one of just two players, along with Justin Thomas, at that time with at least two victories this season and he was fresh off his best finish of the spring at the Arnold Palmer Invitational. Since the restart, however, his quest to join the game’s elite has stalled.

“’Frustrated’ is not the right word because I understood the severity of the pandemic and we do what we had to do in taking a break from golf,” Todd said Friday at the WGC-FedEx St. Jude Invitational. “I would say I'm probably more excited and happy about the resumption of play and being able to complete this season. More excited now than I was frustrated at the break.”

He had plenty of reasons to be excited on Day 2 at TPC Southwind thanks to a bogey-free 65 that propelled him four strokes clear of the field. The highlight of Todd’s round was a 50-foot birdie putt at the par-3 14^th hole.

“It was breaking left to right 5 or 6 feet. My caddie really kind of set me up with a good spot there beyond the hole to aim at and I just focused all on speed,” Todd said. “It happened to just drift right there in the middle of the hole. Bonus birdie there, but that's what you've got to do to win golf tournaments.”