Tag: 2020 Tour Championship

Xander Schauffele battles blister, DJ at Tour Championship: ‘I tried’

By the end of Monday’s final round at the Tour Championship, Labor Day was plenty laborious for Xander Schauffele.

By the end of Monday’s final round at the Tour Championship, Labor Day proved plenty laborious for Xander Schauffele.

He was up against a mountain of a man in Dustin Johnson, a player who has regained his world-class form and even found an extra gear. He was challenging East Lake Golf Club, which at times made superstars like Rory McIlroy and Jon Rahm look foolish with its gorgeous, tantalizing fairways and extreme rough.

And Schauffele, who finished as the runner-up at this event last year, was also getting work done on a blister that was stinging through the fourth and final round.

In the end, it was too much, slowing each and every attempt to catch Johnson, and although a solid 66 proved good enough for another silver medal, it kept Schauffele from the winner’s circle yet again.

Tour Championship: Scores | Money list | Winner’s bag

“I tried,” Schauffele said of his effort, which saw him close in on Johnson when the leader posted a pair of bogeys on Nos. 7 and 8 before facing a tricky 7-foot par effort. “He had a really important par putt on 9, which he made, which isn’t surprising, and I just wasn’t able to put enough pressure on him. I birdied, whatever it was, 11 and 12, and then I bogeyed 13 and then he parred.

“That was a big swing. He’s here to win the tournament. He made that putt, which I didn’t. That was a pinnacle moment I think.”

Schauffele still has plenty to show for his week in Atlanta, scoring a $4.5 million payout for his efforts.

Still, he had his chances, just like he did last year before losing out to Rory McIlroy. Schauffele said the short grass was a necessity this week — even more than previous tournaments — and his failure to hit it in the late stages kept him from having any chance.

“You can only be as aggressive as your tee shot this week. (On) 18, for me to have any sort of chance of tying the tournament, I had to hit it in the fairway and I didn’t,” he said. “I’m hitting there with a 9-iron in my hand while he can go for the green. It’s that sort of week. It was different than weeks prior where you could run shots up on the green or get away with a bad tee shot, but this week was pretty brutal in terms of trying to be aggressive out of the rough.”

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Although he made a valiant run and came up short yet again, this time under a new scoring system that gave Johnson an edge on the field heading into the event, don’t expect Schauffele to belittle the current set of rules, or DJ’s ability to win with them.

“He deserves to win,” said Schauffele, who insisted a blister on his hand didn’t cause much concern, although he did need it attended to. “(DJ) won the first one, tied first in the second, and I don’t know where he finished here, but he obviously is playing great golf, and I think that’s what the playoffs is all about.”

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How much money each golfer won at the 2020 Tour Championship

Check out how much money each PGA Tour player won at the Tour Championship at East Lake Golf Club.

Dustin Johnson is a FedEx Cup winner.

The 36-year-old birdied East Lake Golf Club’s famous 18th hole to finish the final round with a 2-under 68 and win his first Tour Championship at 21 under, and subsequently, the FedEx Cup.

Johnson, who began the week with a two-shot lead at 10 under, carded rounds of 67-70-64-68 to finish three shots ahead of Xander Schauffele and Justin Thomas at 18 under.

Jon Rahm, who began the week in second at 8 under after defeating Johnson in a playoff at the BMW Championship, shot a 66 Monday after a birdie on 18 to finish in fourth at 17 under, four shots behind Johnson.

Check out how much money each golfer won at East Lake below.

Position Golfer Score Amount
1 Dustin Johnson -21 $15 million
T-2 Justin Thomas -18 $4.5 million
T-2 Xander Schauffele -18 $4.5 million
4 Jon Rahm -17 $3 million
5 Scottie Scheffler -14 $2.5 million
6 Collin Morikawa -13 $1.9 million
7 Tyrrell Hatton -12 $1.3 million
T-8 Patrick Reed -11 $960,000
T-8 Sebastián Muñoz -11 $960,000
T-8 Rory McIlroy -11 $960,000
11 Sungjae Im -10 $750,000
T-12 Harris English -9 $682,500
T-12 Webb Simpson -9 $682,500
14 Mackenzie Hughes -8 $620,000
T-15 Hideki Matsuyama -7 $582,500
T-15 Daniel Berger -7 $582,500
17 Tony Finau -6 $550,000
T-18 Abraham Ancer -5 $527,500
T-18 Lanto Griffin -5 $527,500
T-20 Viktor Hovland -4 $497,500
T-20 Brendon Todd -4 $497,500
22 Bryson DeChambeau -3 $478,000
23 Kevin Kisner -1 $466,000
T-24 Cameron Smith E $445,333
T-24 Ryan Palmer E $445,333
T-24 Cameron Champ E $445,333
T-27 Kevin Na +1 $420,000
T-27 Joaquin Niemann +1 $420,000
29 Marc Leishman +2 $405,000
30 Billy Horschel +4 $395,000

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Watch: Jon Rahm can’t get out of fairway bunker at Tour Championship

At the Tour Championship, Jon Rahm failed to get out of the bunker on No. 4, effectively ending his chances for a victory.

Although the Tour Championship has offered up some fantastic golf, there have indeed been moments when East Lake Golf Club has made the world’s best look like weekend duffers.

On Saturday during the second round, defending champion Rory McIlroy was in the thick rough after bombing a 370-yard drive on the par-5 18th hole. McIlroy – who became a father earlier in the week – then caught his second shot a little fat, flubbing it 20 yards directly in a pond.

Jon Rahm had a similar moment on Monday. On the 474-yard No. 4, Rahm pulled his drive a little left and into a fairway bunker. Trailing leader Dustin Johnson by six strokes at the time, Rahm was attacking the flag from 180 yards out.

The result was akin to the shot McIlroy hit on Saturday, one all average golfers can relate to.

He did clear the bunker on his second try, but laid up in the process. Rahm posted a double-bogey on the hole, dropping him eight shots off the lead and effectively ending his chances of catching Johnson.

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In full flight, Dustin Johnson takes command of Tour Championship and FedEx Cup Playoffs

Golfweek’s Adam Woodard discusses the third round of play from East Lake Golf Club for the Tour Championship.

Golfweek’s Adam Woodard discusses the third round of play from East Lake Golf Club for the Tour Championship.

Watch: Collin Morikawa’s incredible bunker shot set the tone for a 67 Sunday at the Tour Championship

Collin Morikawa showed off his short game on Sunday in the third round of the Tour Championship with some incredible bunker shots.

Collin Morikawa’s pinpoint iron play doesn’t let him down often.

But when it does, like on the opening and final holes of Sunday’s third round of the Tour Championship, he can rest easy knowing he’s got some sand chops to dig his way out.

After knocking an iron from 170 yards into the bunker on No. 1, Morikawa peeked up three times looking at the flag, then took a difficult stance that saw the ball just below his hip.

No problem for Morikawa, who has won twice in his last six starts, including the PGA Championship.

He calmly lined up well right of the hole and hit a shot that had the NBC broadcast team in awe.

He joked after his round that this was how he mapped out the hole.

“Obviously, I was playing for it to be plugged in the right bunker. Who wouldn’t? No, I mean, I just flared out a 6-iron. I didn’t actually think it was going to fly that far, so when I walked up I was really surprised it was going to be in that lip,” he said. “But if you’re going to have it plug in a bunker, you kind of want it on a lip because you can just hit it hard and it’s going to pop straight up. Granted, it’s not like I had an easy shot there, and I was really just, kind of just trying to get it below the hole to the left, five, ten feet for par.

“I hit it, got a great bounce, and from that point it just looked like it was going to go in. And I just wanted to see the replay. I finally saw it a few minutes ago. Yeah, wow, what a shot.”

Tour Championship: Leaderboard | Best photos

Unfortunately for Morikawa, the trouble didn’t stop in that bunker. After the birdie on the opening hole, wayward shots on Nos. 3, 4 and 7 all wound up as bogeys on his card.

On 12, however, he stuck his iron to four feet, then slumped in jest after hitting the putt, as if to say a weight had finally been lifted. He played like it from there on, as well, posting birdies on five of the last seven holes to finish with a 67.

He finished the day just like he started it, in the bunker, with a nice shot to make birdie. Although the bunker shot on No. 18 didn’t go in, it gave him a short putt.

“I just feel really good out of bunkers,” Morikawa told NBC after his round. “(On 18) it wasn’t an easy shot but, you know, I had a really good line. I was able to take advantage and it’s nice to walk off with a birdie to finish the third round.”

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Although he trails Dustin Johnson by a wide margin heading into the final round, there isn’t much traffic above him, so it’s not inconceivable to make a run. And considering that he didn’t feel he had his best stuff, Morikawa was pleased with his position heading into Labor Day. He’s 12 under, seven shots behind the leader.

“You know, today was kind of a grind,” he said. “I was able to scrape out a 3-under, but I’m glad I still have somewhat of a chance hopefully tomorrow and see what happens.”

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World No. 1 Dustin Johnson survives wild day to maintain Tour Championship lead

Golfweek’s Adam Schupak discusses the second round of play from East Lake Golf Club for the Tour Championship.

Golfweek’s Adam Schupak discusses the second round of play from East Lake Golf Club for the Tour Championship.

World No. 1 Dustin Johnson survives wild day to maintain Tour Championship lead

Johnson survived a wild driving day to shoot 70 and maintain a 1-stroke lead at the Tour Championship.

ATLANTA – Who needs fairways?

Well, Dustin Johnson didn’t in Saturday’s second round of the Tour Championship at East Lake Golf Club. Although it’s been said over and over that if one is to be successful on this track, one needs to find the fairways, the world No. 1 kept his lead in the finale of the FedEx Cup Playoffs despite hitting just two of 14 fairways on Saturday and just seven the first two rounds.

Somehow, though, out of the nasty rough that rims the fairways at East Lake, Johnson was able to fashion an even-par 70 in the second round and remain 13 under with the staggered scoring format in use this week. He leads Sungjae Im by one shot heading into Sunday’s third round.

Im, by the way, hit 10 of 14 fairways en route to a 64, the lowest round of the day.

Tour Championship: Leaderboard | Best photos

“It was a tough day on the course, but managed to scrape it around pretty good,” Johnson said. “Golf course is two different golf courses if you’re playing from the fairway or playing from the rough.

“Playing from the fairway you can attack the course. You can shoot a good score. Playing from where I did, it’s not so much fun. But I managed my game pretty well, and pleased with the score that I shot, especially the way I drove the ball.”

Johnson did have his moments – he made a 37-footer for birdie on three, a 31-footer for par on the fourth and chipped in from 45 feet on the eighth.

“I feel like I got my two bad rounds out of the way and I got two good ones coming,” Johnson said. “My game feels good. I’ve still got a lot of confidence in everything I’m doing. Just I’ve got to hit it in the fairway. That’s pretty simple.”

Two shots back after a 65 is Xander Schauffele, who won the Tour Championship here in 2017, tied for seventh the following year and finished second last year. Another shot back is Justin Thomas, who said he played “miles better” than his 71 would indicate. Four shots back are Collin Morikawa (65), Tyrrell Hatton (66) and Jon Rahm, who was tied for the lead after the first round and at one point reached 14 under before sliding way back with three bogeys and a double in his last 10 holes as he shot 74.

“It’s one of those days I can’t escape here,” Rahm said. “That’s been my downfall pretty much every time I come. I can’t escape the one day where just nothing goes right, and I can’t really post a score.”

Johnson and Rahm – the top 2 players in the world – were putting some distance between themselves and the field in the early going as Johnson reached 15 under with three birdies in his first eight holes and Rahm moved to 14 under with his birdie on the fifth.

Then both went backward, with Johnson making three bogeys in a seven-hole stretch and Rahm having his problems, and the top of the leaderboard bunched up.

Johnson two-putted the final hole for birdie to gain his advantage.

And Im got back in it by getting back to being Im.

“I honestly wasn’t feeling very confident the last few weeks. I feel like it’s all coming back to me now,” he said. “I’m having a lot of good momentum and I hope to keep it going for the next two days.

“I haven’t been swinging the ball like I’ve been wanting to the last few weeks. Starting last week though, my swing started to feel a lot better and I was hitting the ball similar to how I was hitting it before the quarantine. That allowed me to play with more freedom and consistency.”

That’s Johnson’s goal coming Sunday and Monday. If he does start finding more fairways, he’s going to be hard to chase down.

“I still feel like I’m swinging my irons really well. I’m putting and chipping it pretty good. Got a lot of confidence in that part of my game. I just need to get it in the fairway a little bit more here the next two days,” said Johnson, who spent time on the range immediately after the round. “It wasn’t like I was hitting drives that I’ve never seen before or anything. You know, just the setup was a little bit off. But this golf course, obviously the fairways are narrow. It’s tough to hit them.

“But if you can hit it in the fairway, the golf course is right there for the taking.”

Xander Schauffele lurking again after Saturday 65 at the Tour Championship

Xander Schauffele may be the most dangerous man on the leaderboard heading into the final 36 holes. He trails by two after a 5-under 65.

Don’t look now, but Xander Schauffele is threatening to win the Tour Championship yet again.

Schauffele, who won at East Lake Golf Club as a rookie in 2017, finished T-7 in 2018 and runner-up a year ago, carded three birdies in a row beginning at No. 15 en route to shooting 5-under 65 in the second round. The 26-year-old began the week at 3 under in the FedEx Cup’s staggered scoring system, but with 36 holes remaining until a champion is crowned he’s trimmed his deficit to leader Dustin Johnson to two strokes.

Given Schauffele’s track record at East Lake, he might be the most dangerous man on the leaderboard. He recorded his 14th consecutive round at par-or-better in as many attempts at East Lake. To what does he attribute his success there?

Tour Championship: Leaderboard | Tee times | Best photos

“It’s tough. You kind of have to do everything really well. I think that’s why I like it. It’s really fair. It’s right in front of you. I don’t know why I play well here,” he said. “I mean, I think some statisticians could tell you, but certain holes fit my eye and I just enjoy being out here, so it’s lucky for me.”

Schauffele showed he was game for the challenge this week, shooting 3-under 67 on Friday, despite a double bogey at the par-3 11th hole.

“I was standing on a sprinkler head. I could have dropped it. I thought lie was decent so I kind of went through with it, and it came out pretty hot, chipped it off the green got lucky to make a 5, honestly,” Schauffele explained. “I would’ve lost a lot of money if someone told me I was going to chip it off a green from being about a foot off the green.

“It was a very childish mistake, very amateur-esque. It happens to us, and unfortunately it happened yesterday.”

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Schauffele has made only one bogey in his last 25 holes since making double. He carded three birdies on the front nine to turn in 32, and didn’t let his lone bogey of the day at 13 slow him. His string of birdies began when he canned a 13-foot birdie putt at the difficult par-3 15th hole. Two approaches inside 10 feet set up birdies at 16 and 17.

A return to one of his favorite stomping grounds has done wonders for Schauffele, but he also credited hard work with his dad, who doubles as his instructor, and good old-fashioned tenacity for restoring his usually dependable swing. Schauffele shot 6-over par last week at the BMW Championship and finished T-25.

“I was stressed out early in the week coming in. I wasn’t hitting it very well and I was pretty hard on my dad, and made sure that we’d get me into decent shape just to have a chance to come out here and compete,” Schauffele said. “We worked pretty hard at it back end of last week and early into this week. I think everyone is aware if you’re not in the fairway this week, the rough is thick and it’s nastier than I’ve ever seen it.”

So far, Schauffele has hit eight fairways each day, but with two rounds to go, the stat to watch for Schauffele is can he remain No. 1 in Strokes Gained: Putting this week? The short stick could be the difference in lifting Schauffele to the top of the heap and FedEx Cup glory.

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Jon Rahm, Dustin Johnson trade birdies in tightly-contested first round at Tour Championship

Jon Rahm shot 65 at East Lake Golf Club to tie World No. 1 Dustin Johnson (67) for the lead at the Tour Championship.

Dustin Johnson and Jon Rahm engaged in a game of whatever you can do, I can do better.

The World Nos. 1 and 2 entered the opening round of the Tour Championship in first and second place based on its staggered scoring, and Rahm, despite spotting Johnson two strokes, was able to catch him by shooting 5-under 65 on Friday at East Lake Golf Club.

Rahm, who started at 8 under, and Johnson, who started in the pole position at 10 under, finished at 13 under par, two strokes ahead of Justin Thomas.

Just five days after Johnson canned a 47-foot snaking birdie putt on the 72nd hole to force a playoff with Rahm at the BMW Championship only to have Rahm make an even more miraculous 66-foot birdie putt to win in sudden death, these two heavyweights put on an encore performance. Every time Rahm delivered a right cross, Johnson responding with an uppercut as they traded birdies on the same hole five times.

Tour Championship: Leaderboard | Tee times | Best photos

“The only birdie we didn’t share was mine on 16,” Rahm said. “Besides that we birdied every single hole together, which is kind of unique, right?”

Rahm hit just three fairways, but his putter bailed him out. He holed 128 feet of putts and ranked second in the field in Strokes Gained: Putting (+2.607).

“I’ve putted as good as I’ve ever putted on Bermuda greens in my life,” he said.

Rahm got into red figures for the day early with a 19-foot birdie putt at the second, but Johnson knocked in a 7-footer to maintain his 2-shot lead. One hole later, Rahm made his only bogey of the day. Both Rahm and Johnson made tap-in birdies at the par-5 sixth hole before Johnson hit a bad patch, bogeying Nos. 8 and 9 to trim his lead to one stroke.

The back-and-forth affair heated up on the second nine when Rahm drained a 30-foot birdie and Johnson stepped up and canned a 28-footer to improve to 11 under. Then Rahm drilled a 13-foot birdie putt at 13 and Johnson walked in a 10 footer. Two ho-hum pars at the 14th, but the birdie barrage wasn’t done yet: Rahm rolled in a 24-foot putt at 15 and Johnson answered again, this time from 17 feet.

“Props to him to be making them on top of me,” Rahm said.

But at 16, Johnson finally blinked and missed after Rahm buried a 17-foot birdie putt to tie. Johnson lipped out a 6-foot birdie putt at 18 that would’ve given him the outright lead, but he was hardly deflated and having never before won the FedEx Cup, he remained focused on the task at hand.

“If I want to win this week I’m going to have to bring my best,” Johnson said.

And yet while Rahm and Johnson did their best to make this a two-man race, the other competitors for FedEx Cup riches are lining up behind them. Thomas birdied three of his four holes and closed with birdie to shoot 66.

“I tried not to look at leaderboards today,” Thomas said. “I just tried to play golf and get in my own little world and not really worry about what was going on and what those guys were doing or what the guys in front of me were doing.”

McIlroy, whose wife, Erica, gave birth on Monday, posted 6-under 64, tying his career low round at East Lake, and showed no rust despite being otherwise preoccupied with his newborn daughter for most of the pre-tournament week.

“It just shows you golf is such a mental game, and if you come in with low expectations, that’s always how I’ve played well,” he said. “Whether I don’t feel like my game is in a good place or I’m not the favorite coming into a tournament, all that stuff, I feel like that’s when I usually play my best and I can play with a bit of freedom, and that’s what I did today.”

The defending champion birdied the last three holes and surged into contention at 9-under par, just four strokes behind the co-leaders. McIlroy is alone in fourth, making for nice symmetry as the top four in the world also rank as the top four on the leaderboard.

Mexico’s Abraham Ancer tied McIlroy for the low round of the day, and recorded the only bogey-free round. He improved to solo fifth place with a 64 that included the only eagle of the day at 18. Ancer, who began the tournament nine strokes behind Johnson at 1 under, took a very sensible approach to the staggered scoring system.

“I just picture myself like if this was a five-day event and I shot 1-under yesterday,” he said. “I just have to make up some ground.”

There’s three more days to go in the FedEx Cup, but the race to the finish line is on.

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“If they were on the highway, it’s like the guy who’s running up against your bumper and you tap your brakes to back him off,” PGA Tour Radio analyst Mark McCumber said. “DJ’s got to accelerate to get away from Rahm. Tapping his brakes isn’t going to help.”

Can Rahm continue to hole boatloads of putts or will the wayward drives plague him? All he knows is that Day One felt like a continuation of his Sunday duel with Johnson on the Southside of Chicago and golf fans would like nothing more than to see the world’s top two players continue to trade haymakers – and birdies.

“I kind of stole that tournament last week from him and he started with a two-shot lead, so hopefully I can steal this one, as well,” Rahm said.

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