Scheffler leads by four at East Lake as Collin Morikawa, Xander Schauffele try to keep it close
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Written by Associated Press
ATLANTA (AP) — Scottie Scheffler put on another clinic from tee-to-green at East Lake on Friday for a 5-under 66 and a four-shot lead at the TOUR Championship that didn't seem as big as it looked.
Collin Morikawa and Xander Schauffele had something to do with that.
In a second round that brought a sense of urgency for those chasing the No. 1 player in golf, Morikawa responded with nine birdies, two on the final two holes after a 93-minute storm delay, for an 8-under 63.
Schauffele finished with a pair of 12-foot putts — one for par, one for birdie, both feeling just as important as the other — for a 64.
They still have their work cut out for them.
Xander Schauffele holes 12-foot putt for birdie at TOUR Championship
Scheffler is the No. 1 seed in the FedExCup and began the finale with a two-shot lead. He also is playing as well as he has all year, and those immediately behind him in the FedExCup were not at their best in the opening round. That accounted for Scheffler having a seven-shot lead at the start of the day.
He returned from the storm delay with a pair of birdies over his final three holes and reached 21-under par. Morikawa was at 17 under and Schauffele was another shot behind.
No one else was closer than nine shots to Scheffler.
At stake for Scheffler is a chance to win the FedExCup and its $25 million prize, which he failed to do as the top seed each of the past two years. But he looks more comfortable on an East Lake course that has been overhauled — “This is not the same course,” he said when he arrived Monday for his first look — and everyone has a big task chasing him.
Scheffler began the round with a 7-iron that he thought was going to leave him a 20-foot look at birdie, except that it caught the wrong side of the ridge and rolled off the green, down a severe slope and settled 90 away against a collar of rough.
He holed a 20-foot par putt, a good start that sent him on his way. Even with Morikawa and Schauffele scoring early, Scheffler still led by six shots early on the back nine until he made his first bogey in 29 holes and Morikawa chipped in for birdie, a two-shot swing.