ATLANTA – Scottie Scheffler started the Tour Championship with a two-shot lead based on a dominant season. Then he looked dominant on Thursday, firing a best round of 6-under 65 to build a seven-shot lead and take a big step toward the FedEx Cup title.
Scheffler had five birdies over the last seven holes on a sweltering afternoon at the renovated East Lake to pull away from Xander Schauffele and others.
He birdied the bunker on the par-5 18th hole with an 8-foot putt and took his place in the PGA Tour record book with an asterisk. No one has ever led by seven after 18 holes as far back as the tour keeps that record.
The asterisk is because he’s only one better than Collin Morikawa and the other four who each have 66.
This is the sixth year of the “starting stroke” format in the FedEx Cup finals. Scheffler is the No. 1 seed based on six PGA Tour victories, including the Masters and The Players Championship. He started the tournament at 10-under par and with a two-shot lead over Schauffele, the two-time major champion and No. 2.
It was the third straight year Scheffler started with the lead. He has yet to win the FedEx Cup and his $25 million bonus. And by the sounds of it, it wasn’t on his mind.
“I don’t think about the lead out there today. There’s no reason to. It’s the first day of the tournament. It’s 72 holes. It’s a long time out there to play with the lead,” said Scheffler. “I just focus on staying in my own world and keep trying to make it work.”
He got a quick reminder that a second lead on Thursday — or even Sunday — is nothing to celebrate. Schauffele made up the deficit on the opening hole with an 8-foot birdie, while Scheffler made a lone bogey by having to play the green from behind a tree.
Scheffler, with a 35-foot birdie putt on No. 7 — his second-longest of the entire season — led by one as he made the turn and then left another Olympic gold medalist in the dust.
Schauffele missed an 8-foot birdie opportunity on No. 10 and a 5-foot par putt on No. possibility.
“I think I got a good score because I got it,” said Schauffele, who headed to the range as the round ended. “Overall, it was a ‘meh’ day. Nothing I’m proud of or disgusted with.”
The difference between the best golfers this year is clear – Scheffler can control the distance from the fairway, Schauffele was guessed at the shots out of the rough.
“Scottie’s on almost every road, it seems,” Schauffele said. “Looks like he was practicing his wedge while he was there.”
Indeed, Scheffler missed only two greens and one for birdie or better in the final 14 holes. Player No.
But this hunt for a $ 25 million bonus is far from over, and Scheffler is proof of that. He was the top seed and led by five shots after the first round of the 2022 Tour Championship. That was the year he took a six-shot lead into the final round and lost to Rory McIlroy.
Only one other seed led after the first day since this format began in 2019. That was Patrick Cantlay, who led by two and won the FedEx Cup by one stroke.
Morikawa has a history of great startups. He made up a nine-shot deficit at one round last year with a 61. On the day, he reeled off six straight birdies on the back nine, and a 66 would have put him in the final group with Scheffler there.
Morikawa and Schauffele (70) are at 9-under par. Another shot is a great group that includes Adam Scott (66), Hideki Matsuyama (70) and Keegan Bradley, who went from 50th to 4th by winning the BMW Championship last week.
The score is not too low in the new-looking Timur Lake, with greens that have a lot of shape, areas that are closely cut rather than thick and treeless. However, only one player has done it – Billy Horschel at the age of 73.
Schauffele has at least surpassed East Lake’s stunning line even with the redesign. He lost a lot of ground on the back nine, but his 70 was the 26th time in 29 rounds that he was under par. He has never shot over par.
It wasn’t good enough to balance Scheffler.
Information from The Associated Press was used in this report.
