FedEx Cup: Day One Biggest Risers and Fallers at the Tour Championship

Day One of the FedEx Cup is in the books. Here is a look at the biggest movers, both good and bad.

I wrote about it before the first round started, but I am crazy excited for this event. The FedEx Cup final event is underway, and the day one is over. I wanted to take a look at who moved around the most, both high and low.

With only 30 golfers in the field, falling 10 spots can mean a lot more than it would during a normal event. During the year, losing a stroke or two on the leader could mean you dropped 40 spots. Here, losing a stroke or two on the leader might only be a couple of spots.

Hideki Matsuyama is one of the golfers who jumped out and put pressure on the rest of the field, with four birdies and a bogey through his first seven holes. Paul Casey wasn’t far behind him, as he would card three birdies over his first six holes.

More from Pro Golf Now

Opposite of Matsuyama, Dustin Johnson struggled out of the gate today. He would bogey half off his first eight holes, while only carding one birdie. Kevin Kisner had a good idea of trying to keep up with D.J. Well, normally that would be a good plan, but he found himself +3 on the day after 11 holes, just like D.J. through eight.

Everyone is chasing Justin Thomas. Heading into the day at least. He started with a two-shot lead on Patrick Cantlay, while being three-up on the ever-dangerous Brooks Koepka.

The weather is hot and fantastic down in Georgia. With this season’s top 30 golfers, there is plenty of great golf to be seen as well.

I’ll break it up into two different categories. Those who helped themselves the most, and those who hurt their chances the most. With one round in the books, let’s take a look at those golfers who changed their outlook the most during the first round of the FedEx Cup Final down at East Lake for the Tour Championship.

Those Who Hurt Their Chances the Most

I don’t know if Justin Thomas hurt himself the most today, but he didn’t take advantage of his situation. Heading into today, he had a two-stroke lead. He was unable to play like he did last week and shot over par today, finishing at even. There is now a crowd of golfers around him, and it is going to be a lot more difficult for Thomas to take home the FedEx Cup Title.

Thomas is one of four players in the top 15 who didn’t shoot under par today. Abraham Ancer is the only one in the top 20 who shot over, as he shot +2 today, making his round a little better by getting a birdie on 17. He drops to -2 overall and is now eight shots back. On a day when the overall number you are chasing doesn’t change, a day like today is killer for Ancer.

Dustin Johnson had a terrible front nine, with five bogeys. He would finish the day at +3 and is now even for the tournament. Lucas Glover, one of the first players off today, shot +3 as well, and now finds himself solely at last place at +3, well out of contention.

Those Who Helped Themselves the Most

We have to start with Xander Schauffele here. He shot -6, which ended up being the best round of the day. Not only that, but thanks to Justin Thomas not being able to take advantage of his starting advantage, Schauffele now leads the whole thing at -10, after starting T-6th place.

Not only did he shoot -6, but he did it without carding a bogey. Scoring was at a premium today, and the fact that he was able to get to -6 is impressive. Especially when only four golfers shot -4, with two more at -3.

Brooks Koepka. Of course, he makes this list. He finished his round incredibly well by birdieing three of the last four holes to tie Schauffele for the lead at -10.

Hideki Matsuyama is next up and could’ve had an even better day. He was -5 through 12 holes, and in place to make a real statement. He would falter over the last 6, and finish at -4 for the day. This still has brought him up to 7th place from 15th place.

Rory McIlroy, Matt Kuchar, and Paul Casey take the last spots on those who helped themselves the most at the FedEx Cup Final. They all shot -4, and now sit at -9, -8, and -6, respectively.

With the leaders, Schauffele, Thomas, and Koepka, at -10, we now have a very crowded leaderboard. This is closer and more crowded than most people thought it was going to be, and we have three at -10, one at -9, two at -8, and one at -7.

Next. Pro Golf Now Staff Picks to win the FedEx Cup and Tour Championship. dark

Round Two gets underway tomorrow. Will we see hot streaks continue? Will anyone make up ground that they lost? Is anyone going to have a blow-up round and erase all chances of winning the FedEx Cup? Make sure to watch the Tour Championship tomorrow to find out.

Home/PGA