Scottie Scheffler became the first No. 1 seed not to hold at least a share of the lead in the recent era of the starting-strokes format after the opening round of the Tour Championship.
That was introduced in 2019 and the American birdied three of his first six holes but then the wheels came off, playing the rest of the round in four over for an opening 71. Scheffler ended the day in fourth place on his own, a shot behind Viktor Hovland, Collin Morikawa and Keegan Bradley – Morikawa was the star of day one at East Lake with a nine-under 61, while Bradley, chasing a Ryder Cup pick, was round in 63.
