2022 Tour Championship leaderboard breakdown: Scottie Scheffler goes low to increase lead in Round 1

Scheffler posted one of the lowest rounds of the day to push further ahead at East Lake

For the most part, Day 1 of The Tour Championship at East Lake went the way of the entire PGA Tour season. Scottie Scheffler entered with a lead and left with an even bigger lead, and now he goes into the next three days trying to win the richest prize -- $18 million for first -- in PGA Tour history.

Scheffler dominated the day like he dominated the season and added a 5-under 65 to his total of 10 under -- earned by coming in at No. 1 in the FedEx Cup standings -- to begin his week. His total of 15 under is five better than second and seven better than all but two players in this 29-golfer field. 

The Masters champ does have some heat around him, though, mostly from Xander Schauffele, one of the best players in East Lake history. That was Scheffler's primary competition on Thursday as he tried to create space between him and the rest of the leaderboard. 

Let's take a look at what he did on Day 1 and what's in store for the rest of the week.

The leader

1. Scottie Scheffler (-15): Scheffler was was quietly great on Thursday. Following an early 3-under start through six holes, he looked like he was going to run away from the field even earlier than some (including myself) predicted. However, he uncharacteristically struggled from tee to green in the middle of his round before closing with three straight birdies to touch off a 65 that included just one bogey. It didn't even feel like he played that well, but when the day ended he was five up on the world staring down the $18 million first prize. This is a little bit of who Scheffler is; it doesn't always look perfect, but he's been one of the best scorers of the year and will try to become the first golfer since Justin Thomas in 2017 to lead the PGA Tour with five wins in a season. A victory on Sunday would also more than double his season-long earnings of just over $14M.

Other contenders

2. Xander Schauffele (-10)
3. Matthew Fitzpatrick (-9)
T4. Joaquin Niemann, Patrick Cantlay (-8)
T6. Rory McIlroy, Sungjae Im, Cameron Smith (-7)

Schauffele's East Lake numbers are nearly comical. In 20 rounds, he's averaging 3.5 strokes gained on some of the most talented fields in golf. The next closest of the players in this field is McIlroy at 2.7 in 32 rounds, which is where Justin Thomas is as well. To further contextualize this, Tiger Woods has gained 3.29 strokes on fields at the Tour Championship in 28 rounds there, and Schauffele is living beyond that. Throw in the fact that he's been playing some terrific golf toward the latter part of the summer, and it's clear that Schauffele is the most fearsome of all the contenders Scheffler will try and hold off over the next 54 holes.

Rory's psycho scorecard

We got a gem from McIlroy on the first nine today. After opening with a triple at the first, he shot a 1-over 36 on that side of the course while carding just one par. It wasn't quite as wacky on the back nine, but any day in which you only make four pars and somehow still shoot in the 60s is a day worth celebrating your psycho scorecard. More importantly for McIlroy, he somehow is only eight back of the lead on a day when he finished second to last in driving in the field.

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Purse strings

To try and bring into focus just what's on the table this week, consider the following: this week at the Tour Championship, the total prize money is $58 million. That is $8 million more than the entire PGA Tour season prize money this time 30 years ago.

Aaron Wise's opportunity

The best round early in the day belonged to Aaron Wise, who played by himself and offered a fake handshake to an invisible partner after his round. Oh yeah, and he dropped a 5-under 67 to move from last to inside the top 10. There are implications for Wise other than just the $58 million at stake. He's vying for what would be his first Presidents Cup team, and with the absence of Will Zalatoris, the door is open for Wise to play his way on that team. Wise currently sits 21st, which is way back of where you would think a player would be chosen as a captain's pick. However, Wise is young, talented and has been one of the hotter players down the stretch this year.

2022 Tour Championship updated odds and picks

  • Scottie Scheffler: -120
  • Xander Schauffele: +550
  • Matt Fitzpatrick: 12-1
  • Patrick Cantlay: 14-1
  • Rory McIlroy: 14-1
  • Cameron Smith: 25-1
  • Jon Rahm: 25-1
  • Joaquin Niemann: 28-1

The three guys on here that I really like are Scheffler, Schauffele and Niemann. Scheffler and Schauffele are, to me, in a two-horse race to win this week given their quality of play of late and solid history on this course. Niemann could ride a heater to catch them, especially if Scheffler collapses. His 63-63 start at Riviera earlier this season lingers in my mind, and he finished second in this field from tee to green on Thursday. I'd love to get him at 28-1 and then see another 64 from him on Friday afternoon.

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Niemann off the top rope

We have a new shadow leaderboard leader in the clubhouse. Joaquin Niemann shot an 6-under 64 to climb from 2 under to 8 under on Thursday. He can get absolutely smoking at any given time and is a real threat to upend Scheffler and Schauffele at the top and become the first player to come from outside the top five in this format to win the event.

Kyle Porter
August 25, 2022, 9:03 PM
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Here comes Xander

To the surprise of nobody, Xander Schauffele is playing well at East Lake. Nobody has dominated this place more over the last five year (he's averaging 3.5 strokes gained per round in his career here), and he's been solid in Round 1. He's 3 under so far and the only golfer within four of Scheffler.

Kyle Porter
August 25, 2022, 8:38 PM
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Round of the day

Aaron Wise has the best round of Thursday's first round going after dropping a 5-under 65. He was in last place going into the day and played by himself but putted his way to the 67 and is currently in the top 10. There could be deeper implications for him, too, as the U.S. is looking to replace Will Zalatoris on this year's Presidents Cup team at Quail Hollow. He'd be an interesting choice, especially if he plays great this week. I personally think Kevin Kisner will probably get the spot, but Wise is somebody to keep an eye on.

Kyle Porter
August 25, 2022, 8:14 PM
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Scheffler is rolling

The No. 1 player in the world came into the event -10 and is 3 under thru 7 holes. He nearly just holed out for eagle at the eighth and is staring at 14 under and what would be a six-stroke lead on Patrick Cantlay and Xander Schauffele. Honestly might win by eight strokes this weekend.

Kyle Porter
August 25, 2022, 7:55 PM
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August 25, 2022, 7:33 PM
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August 25, 2022, 7:15 PM
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Rory's insane day continues

Still no pars from Rory, although he has a triple and an eagle on the card now. Back to -3, eight back of Scheffler.

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Kyle Porter
August 25, 2022, 7:12 PM
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