Rory McIlroy headed for the tennis court after opening with a two-under 68 in the FedEx St Jude Championship in steamy Memphis.

But Seamus Power’s thoughts were about recharging for another gruelling day in the heat after he carded a three-under 67 to keep his hopes alive of moving from 66th into the top 50 in the FedExCup standings and qualifying for next week’s BMW Championship in Denver.

While temperatures hit 37c at TPC Southwind, McIlroy headed for a nearby tennis centre for a hit after he birdied the 16th and 18th to shoot 68 and share 18th place on two-under

He’s four shots behind Chris Kirk, who had a hole-in-one at the 14th in a six-under 64 to claim a one-shot lead over Canada’s Taylor Pendrith, France’s Matthieu Pavon and Japan’s Hideki Matsuyama.

McIlroy headed to a nearby tennis centre, as captured in a photo shared by the PGA Tour Champions social media channels – posing alongside Wiley Barron, son of Champions Tour major winner Doug Barron.

Before hitting the hard court, he made an eagle and two bogeys before closing with two birdies in his final three holes and was projected to fall from third to fifth in the FedExCup behind Scottie Scheffler and Xander Schauffele, whose 66s left them tied for fifth with Justin Rose, Ben Griffin, Tommy Fleetwood, Brendon Todd and Denny McCarthy.

Shane Lowry was tied for 43rd after a 70.

But Power, who enters the week ranked 66th and needs to finish near the top of the leaderboard to qualify for the second Playoff event in Denver next week, was pleased with his 67 and a share of 12th.

“I played very nicely, actually,” said Power, who made a 19-footer at the last for his ninth par in a row, having turned in three-under thanks to four birdies and a lone bogey.

“I made one lovely put for par In the last, which was a nice way to finish. I didn't quite get it going on the greens on the back, but I played well. 

“It's just not the easiest golf course. There are not many obvious birdie chances. There's 16 on the back, and I hit a good tee shot, poor iron into a hard spot to make a birdie. So that was pretty good. A lot of nice shots, a lot of encouraging stuff.”

West Waterford man Power, who is projected to move from 66th to just 61st in the FedExCup if he remains 12th on the leaderboard on Sunday, only has eyes for the top 50 who progress to Memphis.

Getting there means remaining in the hunt for another three days, beating the heat.

"Thankfully, it's two balls," Power said. "Being out there for four hours 15 is at least manageable, and there's just enough air moving. 

"But it's tough, and tomorrow afternoon will probably be worse for us. So you hang in there. You drink as much water as you can. 

"I like dunking my hands in the ice bucket. You just do your best. I've had enough golf in this heat now to know you just have to get on with it. It's not going anywhere.

"Tomorrow afternoon, it's going to be hot. It will be hot for four and a half hours, or 4:15, so there's no point worrying too much about it. Just get on with it."

As for his FedExCup situation, he’s just trying to put it to one side and play well

“Your goal is to end up in Atlanta,” he said. “So you want to get to Denver, and like every week, you're trying to get as many points as you can. 

“I’m trying to be in contention going into the back nine on Sunday, and then I've got a chance at reaching all my goals.

“ But, yeah, I mean, it's one of those ones. I don't feel like I have much to lose. It's like I either play very well, have a good tournament, and go on to Denver, or I don't. It's one of those.

“So it's nice, you know. I felt a little tighter probably last week (where he was 69th with only the top 70 progressing) because you felt like you had something to lose in my position.

“I feel like I have everything to gain this week. And it's funny. I saw Scottie’s comments about the playoffs yesterday. For the last couple of years, I felt like that. And this year, being at 66, I think this is great. 

“So it's one of those things - three solid rounds and one low one, and we’ll just see what happens. 

“It's a golf course I played well back when it used to be back in May or June, so I'm looking forward to the next three days, and hopefully I can get through.”