Adam Scott has put himself in the frame for victory at this weekend’s TOUR Championship after a promising first round, but it is American Scottie Scheffler who has a comfortable lead.
Scott is one of 30 golfers remaining in the FedExCup standings, playing this weekend for the chance to be crowned the FedExCup champion and pocket $36.90 million ($25 million US).
There is a total prize pool of $147.5 million ($100 million US) on offer and Scheffler entered the first round with a two-shot lead over Xander Schauffele under the tournament’s staggered scoring start.
Scott, meanwhile, was seven strokes back from Scheffler and that jumped to eight after Friday’s play, although he moved up from a share of seventh entering the opening round to a tie for fourth alongside four other competitors.
TOUR CHAMPIONSHIP LEADERBOARD: Scheffler leads at six-under
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Scott made a strong start to the day, recording three-straight birdies — including one from 28 feet at the seventh — to move to six-under overall and three off Scheffler who leads at 16-under.
The Australian added another birdie at the 12th before closing the first round out with his fifth to finish the day five-under.
It was a bogey-free opening round for Scott, who even made the decision at the 17th to putt the ball in instead of chipping after hitting his approach shot well short of the green.
“On that 17th hole I just felt like I really probably would have chipped it where my putt ended anyway, unless I got really cute and then I could have left it short of the green,” Scott later said, explaining the thinking behind that move.
“So, I kind of hedged my bets a little with the putt and it rolled beautifully through there — too well — and it rolled right past. But I made the one coming back.”
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Scott said he was “surprised” at how low the scoring was across the board.
“The scoring today is better than I thought it might be,” he said.
“Maybe it’s because there’s no wind. I think if the wind gets up we’re really going to struggle but I think there are a lot lower scores than I thought out there.
“I played well and had a good score, so I’m pleased with that. But (I am) just trying to get a feel for the golf course. The greens are so firm and those aprons are so tight, they’re like a green even.”
While Scheffler is the clear player to beat at this point, he has led the FedExCup standings in 2022 and 2023 and been chased down on both occasions, so there will be a mental barrier for the American to clear in the coming days.
Meanwhile, two-time major champion Collin Morikawa made quite the start to the day to finish tied for second at nine-under overall — seven strokes off the lead.
It came after Morikawa recorded six consecutive birdies to start the back nine (holes 10 to 15), becoming the first player to do so in a single round at the Tour Championship.
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Morikawa almost extended the streak to seven straight, coming close to holing another from 40 feet but pulling up just short.
Elsewhere, Rory McIlroy finds himself facing an uphill climb to get back into contention after an opening-round 69 left him nine shots off the lead.
McIlroy made a slow start with two bogeys on the first five holes but mixed in four birdies throughout the day to recover and still believes he has a chance to push for a record fourth FedExCup victory.
“Still feel like I’ve got a chance, and it was nice to finish the way I did,” he said.
TOUR CHAMPIONSHIP LEADERBOARD — TOP 10
1. Scottie Scheffler (-16)
T2. Colin Morikawa (-9)
T2. Xander Schauffele -9
T4. Adam Scott -8
T4. Sam Burns -8
T4. Wyndham Clark -8
T4. Hideki Matsuyama -8
T4. Keegan Bradley -8
9. Sahith Theegala -7
T10. Taylor Pendrith -6
T10. Russell Henley -6
T10. Patrick Cantlay -6
T10. Rory McIlroy -6
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