He has claimed four victories during his career on the PGA Tour, including two in 2021, and sets the pace at 13-under-par at TPC Southwind.

After three birdies on the back nine, English bogeyed the second hole but bounced back with an eagle on the par-five third and another birdie on the eighth.

English is closely tracked by Australian Cameron Smith and Mexican Abraham Ancer, who both recorded bogey-free rounds to tie for second at 11-under.

Both were three-under after the first day and featured at the Tokyo 2020 Olympics less than a week ago, Smith finishing joint-10^th and Ancer tied for 14^th.

Smith started out with a birdie and an eagle in the first three holes and gained five further shots to force himself into contention, while Ancer’s seven birdies included five in seven holes from the 15^th to the third.

Of those tied for second after the first round, England’s Ian Poulter enjoyed the most successful second day, bogeying the ninth but striking five birdies to leave him at 10-under.

He is joined by American pair Sam Burns and Scottie Scheffler, the latter striking five birdies on the back nine.

South African Louis Oosthuizen is nine-under after making six birdies for a round of 64, tied with American Bryson Dechambeau, who finished on four-under for the day despite two bogeys on the seventh and ninth thanks to four birdies on the back nine.

Americans Will Zalatoris and Jim Herman are a further shot back after rounds of 66 and 68 respectively.

Mexican Carlos Ortiz was tied for second yesterday but a slow start and finish, including a bogey and double-bogey on the ninth and tenth, saw him gain just one further shot to finish on seven-under.

He is tied with American Daniel Berger after his round of 67.

Reigning champion Justin Thomas of the US recovered from a bogey on his opening tenth to record his second round of 67 of the tournament and finish on six-under, a position shared by compatriot Dustin Johnson after a round that featured eagles on the third and 16^th.

They are joined by fellow Americans Max Homa, Tony Finau, Ryan Palmer, Matthew Wolff and Stewart Cink and England’s Paul Casey.

The 2019 WGC-FedEx St. Jude Invitational and four-times major champion Brooks Koepka of the US is one-under after a round of 69.

Newly-crowned Olympic champion Xander Schauffele of the US is now two-over-par after five bogeys and a double bogey in his second round, while compatriot and Open runner-up Jordan Speith breaks even.

There is no cut at this event featuring a field of 66, and the competitors are back out at 7.25am local time in Memphis (1.25pm BST), with English and Smith last to tee-off at 1pm local time.