ATLANTA — For most of the day at East Lake Golf Club, Scottie Scheffler looked as if he was going to turn his five-stroke overnight lead into a rout.
The World No. 1 tacked on three birdies in his first six holes and lead by as many as seven strokes. The trophy engraver was already checking the spelling of his name – that’s Scottie with an ‘ie’ not a ‘y’ and don’t forget the ‘c’ in Scheffler.
But just when the weekend of the FedEx Cup finale seemed destined to be a snoozer, Xander Schauffele, who played alongside him, caught fire and played the final three holes in 4 under to trim Scheffler’s lead to a slightly more manageable two strokes.
Asked if Saturday’s round will feel any different with a smaller lead, Scheffler said: “I don’t think so. Today it was only the second round of the tournament. I think that’s part of it that’s a little bit weird, is you talk about a six-shot lead, but it’s pretty weird to have that after one round of golf.
“For me I’m still looking at it like a four-day event, and right now after two days I’m in position to win the tournament.”
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Indeed, he is.
Scheffler made six pars coming home to shoot a bogey-free 4-under 66 and improve to 19 under in the staggered-start scoring. (He began the tournament at 10 under.) It marked his fifth round of 66 or better in his 10th round at East Lake Golf Club. He’s only made one bogey in the tournament as he bids to win for the fifth time this season and attempt to lock up PGA Tour Player of the Year honors, too. No one has won five times in a season on the Tour since Justin Thomas in 2016-17, and no one has won at least his first five career tournaments in the same season since Bobby Locke won six times in 1947.
Scheffler’s lead was five strokes at the halfway mark when he won the Masters in April. He’s developed a comfort level playing with the lead, whether it is seven shots or just two.
“I like being in positions where I’m able to win tournaments, and it’s something I’ve grown more comfortable with over time,” he said.
Here are four more standouts from Friday’s second round at the 2022 Tour Championship.