Scheffler is five clear of Xander Schauffele and six ahead of Matt Fitzpatrick; Rory McIlroy cards an eagle and eight birdies in eventful opening-round 67 - watch the second round live on Friday from 5.30pm on Sky Sports Golf
Friday 26 August 2022 12:31, UK
Scottie Scheffler bolstered his hopes of FedExCup victory by extending his lead at the Tour Championship, as Rory McIlroy battled back from a nightmare start at East Lake.
Scheffler began the PGA Tour season finale on 10 under and with a two-stroke advantage over his closest challenger, only to pull further clear of the 29-man field by mixing an eagle and four birdies with a lone bogey to post a five-under 65.
The reigning Masters champion birdied his last three holes to move to 15 under and further clear of closest challenger Xander Schauffele, who posted an opening-round 66, with England's Matt Fitzpatrick in third after opening with a bogey-free 64.
Defending FedExCup champion Patrick Cantlay sits in tied-fourth, while Rory McIlroy recovered from being four over after two holes of his round to close a brilliant 67 and jump into a share of sixth place.
Scheffler holed from six feet to save par at the second and rolled in a 12-foot birdie at the third to move three ahead, with the advantage increasing to four when Cantlay bogeyed the fifth and dropped back to seven under alongside Schauffele.
Cantlay matched Schauffele's two-putt birdie at the sixth but found himself five behind when Schauffele made eagle on the same par-five, although the world No 1 then squandered birdie chances from inside eight feet over the next two holes to extend his advantage.
Schauffele reclaimed solo second when Cantlay took attempts out of a fairway bunker on his way to a bogey at the eighth, while Scheffler holed from eight at the ninth to avoid just one dropped shot after blading a shot from a greenside bunker.
Scheffler reached the turn five ahead but saw his cushion cut to three when Schauffele cancelled out a bogey at the ninth by making a close-range birdie at the next and adding another at the 12th, with Joaquin Niemann a further stroke back after signing off his opening-round 64 with an eagle at the par-five last.
Schauffele holed from 20 feet to salvage a par at the 14th but saw Fitzpatrick move alongside him in tied-second, as the US Open champion followed three birdies in a five-hole stretch from the sixth by making a close-range birdie at the 15th and adding a 12-foot eagle at the 18th to get to nine under.
Scheffler ended a run of pars by making back-to-back birdies from the 16th to briefly restore a five-stroke advantage, which Schauffele reduced to four with a closing birdie, only for the FedExCup leader to two-putt from 30 feet at the par-five last to complete a three-birdie finish.
"I'm not looking at leaderboards, I'm not looking at any of that other stuff," Scheffler said. "I am treating it like a four-day event, and just like any other one I'm going to go out there and try and put myself in position to win the tournament."
Playing partner Cantlay rolled in a 20-foot eagle at the 18th to salvage a level-par 70 and sit on eight under alongside eight under, with Sungjae Im and Open champion Cameron Smith alongside McIlroy a further stroke back.
McIlroy sent his opening tee shot out of bounds on his way to a triple-bogey and dropped another shot at the next, only to make a chip-in eagle at the par-five sixth and add eight birdies in a remarkable first-round 67 that contained just four pars.
"Not the ideal way to start, but proud of how I bounced back from that," McIlroy said. "I would have been happy just to get back to even par after the first few holes, but to shoot three under was great."
Who will win the FedExCup? Watch the Tour Championship throughout the week live on Sky Sports. Live coverage continues Friday from 5.30pm on Sky Sports Golf.
