There is little doubt about who is the hot favorite at the Tour Championship. There is also very little doubt about who has the best shot at spoiling the party. It’s essentially a battle between world no. 1 and world no. 2. It still is, despite seven strokes now separating Scottie Scheffler from Xander Schauffele. But the latter’s fatigue might just give Scheffler a much-needed relief.

Schauffele previously said at the tail end of the season, fatigue often catches up with him. After the first round, the nine-time PGA Tour winner admitted, “I was getting into old patterns when I was juiced up. It’s just something you do; when you’re trying to get out of a pattern you kind of fight to get in a good spot and then you slip out of it and then you fight to get back in it.”

Schauffele, in fact, was talking about fatigue as early as June. The world no. 2 admitted he was sort of ‘in denial’. It’s certainly not unnatural or unexpected. This year, Xander Schauffele was in the top five seven times in addition to his two titles. That’s certainly the most in contention he has been “through a pretty warm stretch of golf.”

At East Lake, his playing mate, Scottie Scheffler, has built a seemingly insurmountable seven-stroke lead, piling six shots on top of his 10-shot headstart. But it would be a mistake to crown the Texas star as the winner.

This is the third time Scheffler started as a top seed entering East Lake. Two years ago, the former Texas Longhorn was on top of a six-shot cushion entering the final round. Yet Rory McIlroy walked off with the FedEx Cup title.

So Schauffele has a chance if he wins the ‘fight to get back in it.’ It can also be a deciding factor in crowning the Player of the Year. The PGA Tour pros are already divided on whose campaign to rank higher. A victory here undoubtedly plays a big role in that. But can Schauffele pull that off?

Xander Schauffele wasn’t happy with his performance

Schauffele had brilliant records at East Lake. Per Golf.com, from his seven appearances, the 30-year-old has shot the lowest aggregate scores thrice. Despite this, Schauffele has no advantage thanks to Andrew Green’s revamp of the course. And, it showed on Thursday.

Overall, Xander Schauffele is the most well-rounded player in the PGA Tour: 5th in strokes gained: approach, 15th in reaching greens in regulation, 9th in sg: off the tee. Yet, the San Diego State alum gave away strokes with his driver (-0.113) and irons (-1.040) at East Lake. Schauffele hit only 50% of the fairways at the par-71 layout.

“Overall it was kind of a Meh day,” the two-time major champion admitted. Scheffler, meanwhile, missed only four fairways and two greens. That’s despite the Tour blocking out his plans on the 18th. In the second round, Xander Schauffele will tee off with Adam Scott from the 1st tee at 1.49 PM EDT.