Tour Championship: Matt Fitzpatrick shines as Scheffler leads PGA Tour finale
Last updated on .From the section Golf
| Tour Championship - first-round leaderboard |
|---|
| -15 S Scheffler (US); -10 X Schauffele (US); -9 M Fitzpatrick (Eng); -8 P Cantlay (US), J Niemann (Chi); -7 S Im (Kor), C Smith (Aus), R McIlroy (NI) |
| Selected others:-6 J Thomas (US), J Rahm (Spa); -5 C Morikawa (US); -4 J Spieth (US) |
| Leaderboard |
Matt Fitzpatrick shot an impressive six-under-par 64 to leap up the Tour Championship standings but is still six behind leader Scottie Scheffler.
Players start the season-ending event on different scores determined by their place in the FedEx Cup standings.
The Englishman, winner of the US Open, started round one on three under, seven behind American Scheffler.
World number one Scheffler carded a 65 to improve to 15 under and lead by five from Xander Schauffele, who shot a 66.
Chilean Joaquin Niemann matched Fitzpatrick's 64 to join Patrick Cantlay on eight under after the defending champion closed with an eagle in his round of 70.
Just the top 30 players in the PGA Tour standings qualify for the $75m (£63.5m) event - the finale to this season's PGA Tour - at East Lake, Atlanta where the winner will claim $18m in prize money (£15.25m), with second place receiving $6.5m and last place taking home $500,000.
Scheffler won $2.7m when he secured his first major title, the Masters, in April.
Rory McIlroy, who started on four under, dropped four shots in his first two holes but bounced back with five birdies in his final seven holes to finish the day on seven under.
Open champion Cameron Smith, who missed last week's second event of the three-tournament play-offs with a hip injury, shot a 67 to join McIlroy, eight shots off the lead.
