PGA Tour: Scottie Scheffler stays hot but lead dwindles in finale

ATLANTA — After setting a PGA Tour “record” at the Tour Championship on Thursday, Scottie Scheffler continued to look like the best player in the world a day later.

Yet, Scheffler, despite obliterating East Lake off the tee, saw his massive lead dwindle from seven to four after posting a 5-under 66.

“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.”

Having a four-shot lead through 36 holes in the PGA Tour finale is about as good of a spot you can be in. But Scheffler has held sizable leads at the Tour Championship before and has yet to win the FedEx Cup. Still, the former Texas Longhorn does not feel pressured by Collin Morikawa and Xander Schauffele, who sit four and five strokes behind him, respectively.

“It’s the second round of a tournament. It’s the second round. I mean, it’s a long tournament. I am just trying to do my best to stay out there and execute shots,” Scheffler said.

“Today, I did a pretty good job of that.”

You knew Scheffler was locked in with his driver on the par-4 1st, the most challenging hole on the course. He blistered his tee ball 319 yards down the middle of the fairway, one day after missing the short grass right and making a bogey.

Scheffler then hit a 7-iron into this difficult green complex, but it took a hard bounce and missed the green left. The lower trajectory, coupled with the firmness of the greens, led Scheffler’s ball to caroom into one of Andrew Green’s newly established collection areas, setting up a treacherous up-and-down from 30 yards away.

The reigning Masters champion hit his chip shot, but it did not resemble his otherworldly short game. He left himself a 20-footer for par, then drained it.

“It was an awesome par,” Scheffler said.

“One of the best up-and-downs I’ve had in a while. Great way to start the day really. I’m sitting in the fairway, hoping to get a decent look at birdie. But ultimately, on No. 1, you’re just trying to make a four. It’s a pretty hard hole. As I said, you can land it in the middle of the green and end up in a pretty tough spot.”

Longer par putts like the one Scheffler made at the 1st help fuel momentum early on.

Two holes later, he made the first of his six birdies of the day after sticking a wedge to 10 feet. He had a lot of wedges on Friday, thanks to his superb play off the tee. Having a wedge in your hand at East Lake likely leads to plenty of birdies.

Despite that, Scheffler felt like he missed some excellent opportunities.

“A lot of putts did not miss the cup by very much,” Scheffler said.

“But a lot of quality stuff out there, yeah, in a good spot going into the weekend.”

Nevertheless, a two-hole stretch on the back nine has kept things somewhat interesting going into the final 36 holes of the Tour Championship. Scheffler temporarily lost his way with the big stick.

Photo by Kevin C. Cox/Getty Images

On the par-4 13th, Scheffler missed his second fairway of the day and found the left bunker off the tee. He then hit a low, spiny cut out of the trap, a ball-flight that didn’t look like it belonged to the best player in the world. His Titleist 7 came to rest in a fried egg lie in the greenside bunker, as he also short-sided himself. Even then, Scheffler made a miraculous recovery, giving himself a nine-footer for par. But he missed.

Meanwhile, Morikawa, his playing partner, chipped in for birdie, a two-shot swing that cut Scheffler’s lead from seven to five.

Then, on the next hole, Scheffler missed the fairway left again. This time, his ball settled down in the Bermuda rough among the gallery, and he could not find the green in two. Instead, his second shot landed in a collection area below the green and to the left. But unlike the 1st hole, Scheffler failed to get up and down. He settled for par while Moriakwa made a 22-footer for birdie on the same green, thus cutting his lead to four.

Moments later, the PGA Tour suspended play due to lightning in the area, which sent Scheffler and Morikawa into the clubhouse for 90 minutes. Both players birdied two of their last three holes upon their return, thus keeping Scheffler’s four-shot lead intact.

But a four-shot advantage is much smaller than the seven-shot lead he held after day one.

Yet, Scheffler, despite those two misfires on 13 and 14, still hit the ball beautifully off the tee all day. Nobody will catch him if he continues to do that.

Jack Milko is a golf staff writer for SB Nation’s Playing Through. Be sure to check out @_PlayingThrough for more golf coverage. You can follow him on Twitter @jack_milko as well.