USA Today via Reuters
Aug 16, 2024; Memphis, Tennessee, USA; Scottie Scheffler plays his shot from the first tee during the second round of the FedEx St. Jude Championship golf tournament at TPC Southwind. Mandatory Credit: Steve Roberts-USA TODAY Sports
USA Today via Reuters
Aug 16, 2024; Memphis, Tennessee, USA; Scottie Scheffler plays his shot from the first tee during the second round of the FedEx St. Jude Championship golf tournament at TPC Southwind. Mandatory Credit: Steve Roberts-USA TODAY Sports
The penultimate round of the Tour Championship has ended! It saw Scottie Scheffler zoom towards his career’s first FedEx Cup victory. And the World No.1 is zeroed in on his task. On Saturday he shot a 66 (again) to take a whopping 5-stroke lead.
His partner for the day, and second on the leaderboard, Colin Morikawa too continued his surge but felt slightly short with a 67. But again with 18 holes to go, he still has time. The 6-time PGA Tour winner is, however, still 4 shots clear of 3 place Sahith Theegala, and will tee off right alongside Scheffler at 1:05 EST on Sunday. Theegala, on the other hand, will be playing with Xander Schauffele (4th) on Sunday.
The big movers of the day were Shane Lowry and Viktor Hovland. Lowry gained 5 places and could get his best finish ever at the event if all goes well on Sunday. He currently sits at solo 8th. Hovland gained 12 places and sits at T13 after making 7 birdies and one bogey. They will tee off at nearly half an hour apart.
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Below is the comprehensive list of tee times and pairings on Sunday:
| Tee time EST | Pairing |
| 10:21 a.m. | Christiaan Bezuidenhout,Tom Hoge |
| 10:32 a.m. | Chris Kirk, Billy Horschel |
| 10:43 a.m. | Aaron Rai, Robert MacIntyre |
| 10:54 a.m. | Keegan Bradley, Akshay Bhatia |
| 11:05 a.m. | Tony Finau, Sepp Straka |
| 11:21 a.m. | Byeong Hun An, Tommy Fleetwood |
| 11:32 a.m. | Patrick Cantlay, Matthieu Pavon |
| 11:43 a.m. | Taylor Pendrith, Justin Thomas |
| 11:54 a.m. | Viktor Hovland, Russell Henley |
| 12:05 p.m. | Rory McIlroy, Ludvig Åberg |
| 12:21 p.m. | Hideki Matsuyama, Sungjae Im |
| 12:32 p.m. | Sam Burns, Shane Lowry |
| 12:43 p.m. | Wyndham Clark, Adam Scott |
| 12:54 p.m. | Sahith Theegala, Xander Schauffele |
| 1:05 p.m. | Scottie Scheffler, Collin Morikawa |
With only the final day to go, Scottie Scheffler already has one hand on the FedEx Cup with his 5-stroke lead. World No.2 and second in the FedEx Cup ratings, Xander Schauffele would have been the ideal man to steal that glory away from him, however, he’s now 10 strokes behind the 2-time Masters winner, and the only person who seems to be in his way is Collin Morikawa!
Has Colin Morikawa become Sisyphus at the Tour Championship?
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While Scheffler started at the Tour Championship on Thursday with a 2-stroke lead, Collin Morikawa began at 7th. He was far, far away from the World No. 1, but he was determined. He carded a 66 on day 1 and then made his move on Friday. The golf pro shot an incredible 63 (8-under) to move to the second spot, where he still sits. Sheffler too kept his own focus, and his lead arguably made Morikawa look like the Greek man rolling his stone up the mountain, only for it to fall back down.
@collin_morikawa alone in second place at the Tour Championship with 18 left in the seasonhttps://t.co/FRYpDDIuwR
— Jeff Faraudo (@JeffFaraudo) September 1, 2024
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The 3-time major winner, however, doesn’t see it that way. He still has hope. Speaking to the press after the third round where he carded 67, Morikawa said, “I’m going to need something very special. But I believe in myself and hopefully that comes out tomorrow.”
The American star will certainly need a better-than-good day come Sunday, however even if he manages a second-place finish, Collin Morikawa will bag $12 million. Definitely not a bad consolation prize!
