Schauffele reduces Scheffler's Tour Championship lead to two as Im impresses

Brian Keogh

27 August 2022

Xander Schauffele was my pre-tournament pick to plod his way to Tour Championship victory and the $18 million FedEx Cup bonus.

He certainly did little to shake my faith in him on Friday, even when he played his first three holes in one-over and fell eight strokes behind leader Scottie Scheffler. The Californian eventually pulled his round together and finished birdie, birdie, eagle to shoot a seven-under 63 to topple Scheffler's 66 and enter the weekend just two strokes behind on 17-under par.

However, Scheffler has an unflappable quality and sounds comfortable playing with his dwindling lead. "I like being in positions where I'm able to win tournaments," Scheffler said. "And it's something I've grown more comfortable with over time. I played well with the lead at the Masters this year, and that was definitely a lot of pressure. This week is definitely a good amount of pressure as well, but I've been playing well and just hoping to do some more of that over the next two days."

Xander Schauffele: continues to impress in the Tour Championship

He's aware Schauffele has a great record at East Lake - he won in 2017 and has never finished outside the top seven, carding 20 of his 22 rounds under par, with his worst score a brace of level-par 70s. And Schauffele appears to be doing a great job of staying in the moment and not becoming overwhelmed by the occasion. In horse racing parlance, he has blinkers on and is fully focussed on the prize ahead.

"There's a lot at stake here, and staying present is going to be the hardest thing," he said. "When I say ‘keep my blinkers on’, that's what I mean - part of my goal is to not let my mind wander too far."

With preferred lies in operation, it was a day of low scoring at East Lake and, while Rory McIlroy carded a bogey-free 67, he fell one place to seventh and found himself nine shots off the pace. Max Homa is a shot further back in tied-eighth after a 62, while the fiery Jon Rahm moved up to third, six strokes off the lead on 13-under.

Patrick Cantlay is just a shot further back. The reigning FedEx Cup champion recovered from his opening 70 with a 66 and is still lurking dangerously. He's shot over par in three of his four third rounds at East Lake but can reverse that trend this week and still give himself a chance on Sunday.

Cantlay is tied-fourth with Sungjae Im, who continues to play with remarkable consistency and warrants a small play at big odds. The Korean star makes very few mistakes, and a second-round 65 set him up well for a Saturday charge.