Can Anybody Catch Scottie Scheffler at Tour Championship?

Scottie Scheffler has turned into a dominator.  Two days in at the Tour Championship, the PGA Tour season’s last and richest event, he was as many as six shots ahead of his nearest competitor. At the end of round two, though, he was just two ahead of Xander Schauffele.

Less than a year ago, Scheffler was winless and a semi-surprise pick for the Ryder Cup which the US won, thanks in part to Scheffler’s play. This year, he has become an accidental favorite every time he tees it up.

Scheffler has had a great year, with four victories already including the WM Phoenix Open, the Arnold Palmer Invitational, the WGC Dell Match Play Championship, and the Masters, his biggest tournament title to date.

Assuming he has a semi-normal PGA Tour player life from here on out, he should find the winner’s circle many more times in his career.

At the green jacket ceremonies in April, he noted that he didn’t really dream as far as winning the historic tournament.

"“I can’t put into words what it means that I’ll be able to come back here for a lifetime.”"

He had high praise for his family and his caddie. Of course, his caddie, Ted Scott, helped him a great deal. The two had a strategy, which is what every golfer probably tries to do, but executing under pressure is just different.

“I think we just did such a good job of being really committed to what we were doing,” Scheffler said at the time.

"“And you know, that goes through all 72 holes, just whatever we were trying to do, I knew — I knew exactly where I wanted to put the ball and if I was to miss it, which side of the golf course I could be on to where I could still get it up-and-down.”"

He’s clearly continued on that track for the rest of 2022.  The only blip on his record was his play in Memphis.  He had an ailment, an infected area near his tailbone that doctors had to drain. In Memphis, it was causing him pain, but he certainly seems healed now.

Discomfort from the infection caused Scottie Scheffler to miss the cut in Memphis.

Scottie Scheffler bounced back with a third place at the BMW and remained at the top of the FedEx points starting the Tour Championship.  He had only one bogey in round one and none in round two.

Scheffler stands at 19-under par heading to the weekend. Of course, the 10-stroke advantage should be subtracted to give a real indication of how he is playing. His nearest threat is Xander Schauffele who pulled to within two shots of Scheffler.

Schauffele has won the Tour Championship before, but that was when the tournament title and the FedEx Cup were separate.  Justin Thomas won the FedEx Cup that year because he had the most points.

Then in 2020, Schauffele had the actual lowest score, but that was without counting the staggered start where players who finish the highest in the FedEx point standings are assigned an advantage ahead of the tournament.

After two rounds, Schauffele is the closest pursuer.

There are still 36 holes left to determine the outcome, and a lot can happen in that time. Scheffler will have to continue to put his foot down on EastLake’s well-manicured grass.

Schauffele, Jon Rahm, Patrick Cantlay, Sungjae Im, and even Rory McIlroy still have the possibility of winning.  It will be a battle to the finish, as no one wants to lose the chance to earn $18 million for the victory.

Rahm, who posted a 63, had some comments after play.

“It was a great round, I think. If it doesn’t beat it, I think it beats my lowest score out here. It’s a great round of golf,” he said after finishing.

"“I got up up-and-down and made two great two-putts from a very long distance to get the round going, and then I finished strong again.”"

He had birdies at the second, third, fourth, sixth, and eighth on the front as well as the 12th, 16th, and 18th.  The only blemish was a bogey at the 17th. The total was 63.

The weekend promises to be an exciting contest between some big hitters, because many of them have made up shots on the advantage that Scottie Scheffler had at the outset.