Can anyone catch Scottie Scheffler at TOUR Championship?

ATLANTA – For about 10 minutes, everything went wrong for Scottie Scheffler.

The runaway No. 1 player in the world found the bunker off the 13th tee and his approach plugged into a greenside bunker, leading to a bogey. Meanwhile, Wyndham Clark holed a long eagle putt on 14, Collin Morikawa chipped in for birdie at 13 and Xander Schauffele stuffed one close and tapped in for an easy birdie on 14.

Scheffler still led by four.

This is life at this year’s TOUR Championship, where Scheffler appears determined to right his past ills and conquer East Lake Golf Club and the FedExCup. Following a 65 on Thursday, Scheffler shot 66 on Friday to head to the weekend at 21-under. His lead dropped from seven shots to four, though only two players are within eight of Scheffler’s lead after two rounds.

Whether that matters depends on your answer to this question: do you actually believe anyone can catch Scheffler?

It’s the question most have been forced to ponder all season as Scheffler has written his name at the top of the leaderboard with permanent ink. The Texan separated himself from the rest of pro golf, rattling off seven wins, including the Masters, THE PLAYERS Championship and the Olympics, surpassing even the loftiest expectations set at the start of the season. But if the goal was to hand-select a group of ideal chasers, this week’s leaderboard passes with flying colors.

Morikawa is four back, likely having the best season of anyone on TOUR without a win. He played in the final group alongside Scheffler at the Masters and notched two other top 15s in the majors. Morikawa is a tournament-best 13-under, not counting the FedExCup Starting Strokes.

“He's driving it really, really well here and you're giving yourself enough wedges to make some scoring opportunities out there,” Morikawa said. “For me, it's just bringing energy and just kind of staying alive out there.”

Schauffele has been the closest to matching Scheffler’s form this year, breaking through with two major championship victories. He’s five back, with the tremendous East Lake experience to fall back on.

“I know he's not going to let up, so there's only one way to get him,” said Schauffele.

In one sense, both Schauffele and Morikawa can look to Friday as a blueprint for the rest of the week. Both cut into the seven-stroke deficit they began the day with. The only downside? They had to shoot 64 and 63, respectively, to make a dent. And neither expect Scheffler to slow up.

Scheffler leads the field in greens hit and is third in fairways hit. He’s also had his best back-to-back putting days of his East Lake career.

“It's really up to him, to be honest,” Schauffele said. “I have to play out of my ‘beep’ to sniff.”

There are others chasing. Clark is nine back. He went toe-to-toe with Scheffler numerous times this season, finishing runner-up to Scheffler at Bay Hill and THE PLAYERS. He won the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am with Scheffler in the mix, too. Sahith Theegala and Adam Scott are also nine back at 12-under. Though, it’s shaping up as a three-horse race given Scheffler’s 2024 performance.

It’s still too early to begin Scheffler’s victory lap. There is precedent to believe he could falter. He led by six entering the final round of the 2022 TOUR Championship but blew the lead to a surging Rory McIlroy, who claimed his third FedExCup. If there’s a nit to pick from Scheffler’s last two seasons, it’s been his inability to close at the TOUR Championship, a strange absence amidst a historic handful of seasons. But the Scheffler of two years ago is not the one we’ve seen this season.

“I feel like my swing is in a good spot. I've hit it nice last couple days,” Scheffler said. A lot of quality stuff out there, and yeah, in a good spot going into the weekend.”