Tour Championship
Scottie Scheffler shows his (gold) mettle, opens a seven-stroke lead in the first round of the Tour Championship
Mike Mulholland
ATLANTA – Football season begins in earnest tonight. And Scottie Scheffler has a touchdown lead in the Tour Championship. But the guy isn’t ready to spike the ball just yet.
Already staked to a two-stroke lead at the outset of the FedEx Cup season finale, Scheffler blocked, tackled and scored better than anyone else Thursday at East Lake Golf Club, firing a six-under 65 to sprint ahead by seven shots. At 16 under par when combined with his 10-under starting score, Scheffler owns the largest lead after 18 holes on the PGA Tour since at least 1983 (when records began to be kept), though it won’t count as a record due to the staggered-start format in this $100 million event.
Scheffler also shot 65 two years ago here as the leader, turning a two-shot advantage to five. It marked the last time he led after 18 holes, and he eventually built his lead to six shots after 54 holes only to finish second to a charging Rory McIlroy. Last year, the Texan opened with a 71, fell behind three players, including eventual winner Viktor Hovland, and ended up sixth.
This was the start he needed, fueled by a finish in which he birdied five of his last seven holes. Collin Morikawa and Xander Schauffele were the nearest pursuers, with Morikawa converting six birdies in a row in a 66 while Schauffele could only manage a 70 as they sit at nine under par.
“I'm trying not to think much about the starting strokes stuff. I think it's still a bit weird with it not being a traditional event,” Scheffler said. “But yeah, it was nice to get off to a good start in the first round, and I feel like I did a lot of things well today.”
Twenty-seven of the 30 players broke par on a sweltering day when temperatures neared 100 degrees, and only one player, Billy Horschel with a 73, shot over par.
“I’m really surprised by the scoring,” said Adam Scott, who was another of the five players to shoot 66 and is tied for fourth at eight under. “I think they took it a little easy on us with the pin placements, and they moved some tees up, sort of easing us into the week with the course being totally new.”
Scheffler, 28, the world No.1, didn’t take it easy on anyone. After two years of coming up empty after showing up as the frontrunner, he apparently is determined to finish off the season-long (or whatever he might call it) title that has eluded him.
Things didn’t start out promising for the game's dominant player when that two-shot lead was gone after one hole. Scheffler suffered his only bogey of the day after missing the fairway, coming up short on his approach and eventually missing a 13-foot par attempt. Schauffele, meanwhile, opened with an eight-footer for birdie.
Scheffler nosed ahead for good with a birdie from four feet at the third. The all-around game that had been missing a week ago at the BMW Championship, where he never broke 70, had returned as he hit 10 of 14 fairways and 16 greens in regulation. He capped things by ranking fifth in strokes gained/putting.
Too bad he can’t just run out the clock from here. He knows he can’t let up, especially after the surprising meltdown in the final round two years ago. If his competitors are looking for any ray of hope, Scheffler is 0-for-3 previously in converting an 18-hole lead into a victory.
“I wasn't thinking about the lead out there today. There's no reason to,” said Scheffler, who has seven wins this year, including the Masters and the Olympic gold medal. “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.”
So far, he’s executing just like he drew it up.
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