by Atlanta – Russell Henley barely missed a putt. Scottie Scheffler barely missed a fairway. They led a parade of players who seized the soft conditions at East Lake to start the race at the Tour championship and the FEDEXCUP title funded.
Henley to only one of her last seven holes and has made three sips of Birdie from 40 feet or more and, with three consecutive stews at the end, had a 9-mine of 61 to build a two-stroke advance on player N ° 1 in the world.
Scheffler did not miss a beat last week – really the last five months – and ended with a paragraph of 25 feet on the 16th and two birdies for a 63. This is his lowest turn by two shots during his six appearances at East Lake.
Entertainment came from Rory McILroy, who bored a bunker shot on the 18th hole par-5 above the green and the stands, then back on the green. He made an 18 feet putt for a most improbable Birdie.
Scheffler rooted hard for McILroy, not so much for the Birdie, but so that they can avoid a length decision to finish. A few seconds after Scheffler put on his 4 -foot sneak putt, the horn struck to stop the game due to the approach of the storms that led to the evacuation of East Lake.
Left Behind was a ranking filled with red figures in a tournament that has a 40 million dollars handbag in official money for the best 30 players, all with an equal chance. Only two players were on peer.
The rain hammered East Lake Wednesday – and again after the end of the first round – leaving the course soft enough for the players to lift, clean and place their golf balls in short grass.
“I felt like I was an elevator, cleanliness and place and a little soft compared to last year when the Greens were new, it was a little softer, so it was just a little more possible,” said Henley.
There was also this question either to put. Henley already has a great reputation with the putter, and that day, he put on about 207 feet of putts.
“Probably the most I have ever done,” he said.
Three of the five players who arrived at 64 were sufficient to wonder what cut was in the lead. Justin Thomas, Collin Morikawa and Patrick Cantlay all finished in front of the first six who qualified for the Ryder Cup and must wait to be one of the six captain’s choices.
All three are considered probable choices.
A certain number of players in the running for a positive call from Keegan Bradley next week have taken a good start Thursday at the Tour championship.
“I don’t think you are never comfortable before receiving this call and you are on the team,” said Morikawa. “Listen, I hope I have done enough. We will have to wait and see. But I think, yes, my goal right now is to try to go out and win this golf tournament. I think if I do this, I hope that is enough, and we will see how everything goes.”
Scheffler won his fifth victory of the season last week at the BMW championship and did not take a step. Everything that slowed it down was a swirling wind as the storm approaches, which made a little more difficult to get closer to the chances of Birdie with a corner by hand.
The only fairway he missed – with the exception of n ° 18, in which the ball rolled in the middle in the first cup – was in the 16th, and that left him in his biggest situation. From the rough, he has descended a deep swale on the right, the only place he knew how to avoid.
“I knew you go there to the 16 year old was a huge penalty. We talked about it during the training rounds,” he said. “And our work was just to bring the ball back to the green, which I did, and it was nice to trace this long putt.
But it was a reminder of the key to keeping the ball in play.
Tee Times and TV Times for the second round of the Fedexcup qualifying final, the Tour championship at East Lake Golf Club.
“I missed one (fairway) out of 16 and suddenly I play almost for Bogey,” he said. “It’s quite important around this place.”
Tommy Fleetwood, who continues to give himself a chance during his first victory on the PGA Tour, was also 66 years old, as well as the vice-champion of the BMW championship, Robert Macintyre, who is ready for a return to Scotland given the warmth in Memphis, Baltimore and Atlanta.
“I wear as much sunscreen as possible. I look like the ghost there, to be honest. I get a lot of cries on my sunscreen,” said Macintyre.
This beats the cries he obtained last week in Caves Valley when he lost a head of four strokes in Scheffler during the final round and heard the pro-American crowd along the way. Macintyre was also upset by the way he managed the crowd as his golf course, but there will be a great teaching moment for him with Bethpage Black for the Ryder Cup next month.
“There are a few things I know I’m going to change, but do you know what it will really help me? Bethpage,” he said. “I’m always going to be fiery, I’m going to always shout, swear, shout, get angry.
“But just the way I interacted with the crowd, I was trying to keep them away, but instead of doing what I did on Saturday and bring them to it.”
