ATLANTA — Scottie Scheffler might have had a roller coaster of an opening round Thursday at the Tour Championship if only he had been paying attention to the scoreboards.
Scheffler started with a two-shot lead as the No. 1 seed in the FedEx Cup standings entering the PGA Tour’s postseason finale. He led by as many as six shots on the front nine at East Lake Golf Club. Then his lead was down to two. And when he finished with three straight birdies for a 5-under-par 65, he was five strokes ahead of Xander Schauffele.
“I didn’t know any of that. I was just trying to go out and shoot a good number,” said Scheffler, whose big year already includes a Masters victory for his first major championship and his current run atop the Official World Golf Ranking.
Rory McIlroy’s day was far more wild — and he knew it.