Scottie Scheffler stumbles, loses early lead at Tour Championship - ESPN

ATLANTA — If two-time major champion Collin Morikawa was trying to make a final impression on U.S. Ryder Cup captain Zach Johnson in this week's Tour Championship, he took a big first step in Thursday's opening round at East Lake Golf Club.

Morikawa, among a handful of players who are under consideration for Johnson's six captains picks that will be announced Tuesday, carded a 9-under 61 with seven birdies and an eagle to grab a share of the 18-hole lead at 10 under in the staggered-scoring format.

Another U.S. Ryder Cup hopeful, Keegan Bradley, posted a 7-under 63 to move to 10 under. Norway's Viktor Hovland, who won last week's BMW Championship near Chicago, also had a share of the first-round lead with a 2-under 68 over 18 holes.

World No. 1 golfer Scottie Scheffler was 1 stroke back at 9 under. Adam Schenk and Russell Henley were 8 under.

There were nine players within 3 shots of the leaders, the most through 18 holes at the Tour Championship since the starting-strokes format began in 2019.

Scheffler started the day 2 strokes in front of the rest of the field after piling up the most FedEx Cup points this season. After starting the day at 10 under, Scheffler had birdies on three of his first six holes to open up a 5-stroke lead.

But then Scheffler carded bogeys on Nos. 8, 11 and 12. He made a triple-bogey 6 on the par-3 15th after hitting his tee shot into the water. He missed a 3½-foot putt for double bogey. It was only Scheffler's second triple-bogey on a par 3 this season; he has played more than 800, according to research by ESPN Stats & Information.

Scheffler lost 2.833 strokes to the field, his worst round of the season, and dropped 3.229 in putting. He needed 33 putts.

«I'm obviously pretty frustrated with how