Tour Championship 2022: Scottie Scheffler Holds 5-Shot Lead After Round 1

Scottie Scheffler entered the first round of the 2022 Tour Championship at East Lake Golf Course in Atlanta with the lead in the FedEx Cup standings, and he'll enter Round 2 holding a five-stroke cushion over the second-place Xander Schauffele.

Scheffler, who entered at 10 under, finished the first round at five-under par to sit 15 under total entering Friday's action.

Patrick Cantlay, who won last week's BMW Championship at Wilmington Country Club in Delaware, sits tied for fourth at eight under. Will Zalatoris, who won the FedEx St. Jude Championship this month, withdrew from the event with two herniated disks in his back.

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Tour Championship Leaderboard

1. Scottie Scheffler: -15

2. Xander Schauffele: -10

3. Matt Fitzpatrick: -9

T4. Joaquin Niemann: -8

T4. Patrick Cantlay: -8

T6. Sungjae Im: -7

T6. Cameron Smith: -7

T6. Rory McIlroy: -7

T9. Cameron Young: -6

T9. Justin Thomas: -6

T9. Jon Rahm: -6

T9. Sepp Straka: -6

T9. Sam Burns: -6

Full leaderboard available at PGATour.com

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After his impressive first round, the FedEx Cup seems like it's Scheffler's to lose.

The 26-year-old got off to a hot start Thursday, carding a birdie on the third hole before carding an eagle on the sixth hole to move to three under on the day.

Scheffler slipped up slightly on the ninth hole with a bogey, but he hit par on the next six holes to maintain his score of two under.

The New Jersey native ended the afternoon on a high note, carding three straight birdies to close out the first round at five-under 65 and 15 under for the lead. His five-stroke margin is tied for the largest lead after any round since Starting Strokes was implemented in 2019, per PGA Tour Communications.

"Well, when I'm on the golf course I'm just trying to go out there and do my best," Scheffler said after Round 1, per golf analyst Ron Mintz. "I'm not looking at leaderboards, I'm not looking at any of that other stuff. I am treating it like a four-day event, and just like any other one."

Aside from Scheffler, some of the best performances of the first round came from Matt Fitzpatrick and Joaquin Niemann, who finished six-under 64 to sit nine under and eight under, respectively.

Fitzpatrick carded two birdies on the front nine before adding two birdies and an eagle on the back nine to improve to third on the leaderboard.

Niemann, meanwhile, carded three birdies and a bogey through the first nine holes before carding two birdies and an eagle on the back nine.

Both Fitzpatrick and Niemann carded their eagles on the 18th hole, finishing the afternoon on a high note.

Scheffler will look to maintain his lead when the second round begins Friday.