The first round of the 2025 Tour Champion is the world's best players Scottie Scheffler and Rory McIlroy, to eliminate it with the same pairing. Although their tour was full of high moments, the highlight was the incredible McIlroy obtained on the 18th hole.
But while Rory was his main competition for the FedEx Cup this week, Scheffler was very happy with McIlroy's willful shooting from disaster to birdies, thanks to some help from the stands at East Lake.
McIlroy rests in the stands at the Tour Championship
Scheffler and McIlroy, No. 1 and 2, opened together on the FedEx Cup standings, opening the tour on Thursday. Both stars performed well on the first day.
McIlroy started with a steady start, then a hawk broke out on the par 6 (Par-5) before birding on the 7th. Scheffler's game started faster, allowing the bird to quickly fall into the red numbers in 2 and 3.
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Unlike McIlroy, Schaffler was able to keep his bogey away from the scorecard all day and reach the 18th hole on the sixth hole. McIlroy recorded two bogeys and two birdies in the last nine games at that time, putting him below three.
When they left the 18-year-old to head for the scoring tent, each of them pushed the bird lower at 18. But McIlroy's Bird 4 Road is a rock.
After driving into the roughness on the left, McIlroy tried to turn green one-two, but he ranked short in the green space bunker on the front right. From there, he left a long bunker, and needed to be in full swing.
Unfortunately for McIlroy, he would shoot the ball well on the green and go high into the stands behind the putter surface.
But the golf god is by his side.
McIlroy's blade bunker shot nailed a hard flat surface into the stands, then ricochet returned to the green, miraculously, just 17 feet from the hole. He drained that for a memorable birdie and brought him below four to compete.
View below.
Rory McIlroy
In the first round of the Tour Championship, three-time FedEx Cup champion Rory McIlroy won the stands in the 18th hole of the stroke 5 to make the birdie.
Why Sheflew is satisfied with Rory's big breakthrough
Seeing McIlroy's ball sailing into the stands at 18, you'd think Scheffler would cheer for the disaster. After all, he is competing with McIlroy for the FedEx Cup title and its $10 million prize.
But you will be wrong.
Instead, the world's number one is actually to get McIlroy for a good rest. This is why.
Starting their rounds at 2 p.m. ET, our Star Duo will never have any problems due to the sunlight.
But thunderstorms are expected to cross the entire route at the end of their round. This plays a major role in Scheffler's thought.
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In the last hole of the day, safely putting it on the green, the last thing Scheffler wants is to get McIlroy into a tricky rule situation. As the storm comes to call, any additional delays will force the pair to return on Friday morning to complete their final putt.
That's why in the final moments of the first round of the Tour Championship, Schefler suddenly became a fan of Rory McIlroy.
“I never got rooted in someone’s balls back [from the grandstand]outside of my partner at the team event,” Scheffler explained Thursday night. “Because we walked to 18, [NBC/Golf Channel reporter Jim “Bones” Mackay] Tell us they want to blow [the horn] Any second, so I watched his ball fly to the stands. I thought, Oh my goodness, we can't get this done.
He continued to smile and said, “So when I saw it back to the green, I felt relieved.”
Schefler also left an 18-year-old goal in a bunker. But the world ranked first and the world number two escaped trouble. Schaffler shot his bunker to four feet and then made putts for the birdie.
Schefller finished with a 4-pointer under 63, which put him behind early leader Russell Henley.
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