Schauffele, Koepka play game of catch
In Round 1 of Cup finale, they tie top seed Thomas
ATLANTA — Xander Schauffele was six shots behind before he ever hit a shot Thursday in the new scoring format for the Tour Championship. His goal was to keep his head down, play good golf and see where he stood to par at the end of two days.
The TV cameras following his every move on the back nine at East Lake were the first hint it was going well.
A leaderboard on the 18th green confirmed it.
“I saw I was in first,” he said. “Happy with the day.”
Schauffele didn’t come seriously close to a bogey in a 6-under 64 that was the best score of the opening round by two shots. It was only worth a share of the lead with Justin Thomas and Brooks Koepka in a Tour Championship where players started with better scores to par than others depending on their place in the FedEx Cup.
Thomas, who started at 10-under par and a two-shot lead as the No. 1 seed, still led despite having trouble finding the fairway. That was the least of his problems on the back nine. He hit pitching wedge into the water for double bogey and missed a pair of 3-foot putts for a 70.
Instead of being six shots behind Schauffele, who started at 4 under as the No. 8 seed, Thomas was tied for the lead. Koepka, the No. 3 seed who started three shots behind, birdied three of his last four holes for a 67 to join them at 10 under.
“It’s weird on Thursday to be three back after a couple of holes,” Koepka said of the start. “It’s nice to close that gap on Day 1.”
Rory McIlroy, five shots behind at the start as the No. 5 seed, had a 66 and was one shot behind at 9 under going into the second round.
Over the next three days, it should feel like a normal tournament.
The score to par is all that matters in deciding who wins the FedEx Cup and the $15 million prize. And after one day, it was setting up to be a shootout. The top five players were separated by five shots at the start, and that number was at 12 players by the end of the day.
That included Paul Casey, who felt a new kind of anticipation for a Thursday.
“After five holes, I wanted to see scores. I never usually care about what’s going on after five holes,” said Paul Casey, who shot 66. He started eight shots behind as the No. 16 seed and cut that margin in half after one round.
The concern was that Thomas, who won last week at Medinah, might post another low score and build a huge lead.
It didn’t work out that way.
“We’ve got a golf event now,” Casey said. “This is kind of cool. Looks like it’s working.”
There were a few other moments that indicated this Thursday was different from all others in golf.
Thomas made the turn at 1 under, and as the walking scorer brought the sign across the road and onto the 10th tee, one fans was shocked to see him at 11 under until he said, “That’s right — he started at 10 under.”
Schauffele was at 10 under when he approached the 18th green to face a 6-foot birdie putt.
“I had a putt for 59 on the last hole,” he said with a smile. “That’s what (Matt) Kuchar told me. I looked at him the same way. Got it.”
Schauffele won the Tour Championship two years ago in a situation that led to this change in format. FedEx Cup points accrued during the regular season and quadrupled in the postseason were reset to give everyone a chance. The top five players only had to win the tournament to capture the FedEx Cup, and odds of winning the bonus were higher as the position in the standings got lower.
Schauffele, a rookie in 2017, was the No. 26 seed when he won the tournament. The FedEx Cup went to Thomas, who was the No. 2 seed and finished one shot behind.