As usual, the best players on the PGA Tour are looking up at Scottie Scheffler.
The No. 1 player in the world broke open a seven-shot lead on the field after one round of the Tour Championship thanks to a 6-under-par 65 on Thursday at East Lake Golf Club in Atlanta.
The tournament began with Scheffler at 10 under par and Xander Schauffele in second place at 8 under, as a staggered scoring start based on the season-long points race will help determine the FedEx Cup at week’s end.
Playing in the final pairing Thursday, Schauffele hung with Scheffler for 10 holes before several wayward tee shots brought him down a few spots. Scheffler hit the gas with three straight birdies at Nos. 12-14 and finished his round birdie-birdie to get to 16 under for the tournament.
“I wasn’t thinking about the lead out there today,” Scheffler said. “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 be playing with a lead or whatever it is. I was just focused on staying in my own world and continuing to just try to execute.”
Schauffele had to settle for a 1-under 70 and shares second place at 9 under with Collin Morikawa (66). Hideki Matsuyama of Japan, who began the tournament in third at 7 under, also posted a 70 to join a tie for fourth at 8 under with Sam Burns (67), Wyndham Clark (67), Keegan Bradley (69) and Australia’s Adam Scott (66).
The 30-man field will return to the course Friday, when scattered thunderstorms are in the forecast for hot and humid Atlanta. There is no 36-hole cut. The winner after 72 holes will take home the FedEx Cup and a $25 million prize.
The first hole saw a two-shot swing, when Scheffler bogeyed and Schauffele sank a 9-foot birdie putt to match him at 9 under. Scheffler made birdies at the par-4 third and seventh holes — the latter a 33 1/2-foot putt — to get to 11 under, with Schauffele on his tail.
Schauffele missed the green far right at the par-3 11th and couldn’t convert a 5-foot par save. Scheffler began a birdie run at the next hole, as tight approach shots helped set him up for two straight 7-footers for birdie before a two-putt birdie at the par-5 14th.
Schauffele hit his drives far left on Nos. 13 and 14, but he saved par at the former and managed birdie at the latter after a free drop to get around a grandstand. He gave one back again at No. 16, however, after missing the fairway and compounding his mistake on the second shot.
“I was getting into old patterns when I was juiced up. It’s just something you do,” Schauffele said. “When you’re trying to get out of a pattern you kind of fight to get in a good spot and then you slip out of it and then you fight to get back in it. I’ve got three more days.”
Scheffler birdied from 16 feet at the 17th and got up and down from a greenside bunker at the par-5 18th.
“Just like any other tournament, if I came out here and shot 2 over par and this was a regular stroke-play event, I’d be sitting pretty far back from the lead,” Scheffler said. “So treating it like I would any other tournament, just staying in my lane and doing the things I’m good at and that’s just trying to focus on the task at hand and let all the other stuff take care of itself.”
Before Scheffler signed for a 65, there were five players who shared the round of the day at 66, the most impressive belonging to Morikawa. He played the front nine in 1 over, flipped a switch and ran off six straight birdies starting at the 10th.
Morikawa mixed laser-accurate approach shots that set up short birdie putts with two longer putts at the par-3 11th and 15th holes, from 17 1/2 and 14 feet, respectively.
“I wish (the birdie run) would have started on hole 1, but it’s going to be a good reminder going into the next three days that I’ve just got to see my shot and execute,” Morikawa said. “I was just thinking a little bit too much.”
Sahith Theegala (67) is alone in ninth place at 7 under, and Northern Ireland’s Rory McIlroy opened with a 69 to climb to 6 under, tied for 10th but a full 10 strokes off Scheffler’s pace.
–Field Level Media
