Jon Rahm has a pet peeve.
The Tour Championship, with the FedEx Cup on the line, is not all about the money. Sure, there is the $18 million that goes to the winner. Sure, each place 2-30 is still richly rewarded. Sure, these golfers have already made fortunes.
So winning is what matters.
“It’s one of the things that frustrates me about watching this broadcast,” Rahm said Friday after the second round at East Lake Golf Club. “Like, we’re not thinking if we miss a putt how much it’s going to cost us money-wise. No chance. Like, none whatsoever. You’re trying to finish as high as possible. You’re trying to win a tournament. It’s one of my pet peeves when they make this tournament all about money because I think it takes away from it.
“When you win a Green Jacket, I can tell you right now that any major champion this year might not remember how much money they made. And that’s the beauty about this game and I think that’s kind of how it should be. Obviously, I’m saying that being in an extremely privileged position financially. I mean, at that point, from first to second, you’re making a ton of money, so it’s more about winning than the prize itself.”
Collin Morikawa went so far as to say he trade the money for another win.
“Everyone makes it about the money,” said Morikawa, who led after the first and second rounds. “But I really don’t care. I would play these tournaments because I want to play against the best guys in the world. I want to win. And whether you get a dollar out of it or 10 million dollars out of it, a win’s a win. Like, at the end of the day, the wins mean so much to myself that I would trade ‘em all in for just another win. I would trade the money for another win and more majors. Because people don’t understand how good it feels. That’s what you dream of. That’s what you desire to do. That’s what you want to do. That’s why you practice. Yeah, you just want the win.”
Scheffler better … but not
Scottie Scheffler was frustrated on Thursday after losing his lead given to him to start the staggered scoring Tour Championship. Handed a two-stroke lead, at 10-under par, Scheffler ended the day at 9 under after a 1 over 71, one stroke behind Collin Morikawa, Viktor Hovland and Keegan Bradley.
Friday was better. Well, kinda.
Scheffler shot a much-better 5 under 65 on Friday in the second round, six strokes better that his opening round. He sits at 14 under for the tournament and in third place. The problem is he is two strokes off the lead, held by Morikawa and Hovland.
“I would like to be in the lead,” Scheffler said. “I was actually closer to the lead after yesterday’s round. That’s how weird this format is. But, no, I played good golf today. I just need to do more of that the next two days.”
The biggest trouble Scheffler encountered in his opening round was putting his tee shot at the par-3 15th into the water surrounding the peninsula green. He took a triple bogey.
“Hitting 9-iron into 15 is a lot easier than hitting 5-iron into the wind, for sure. Yeah, so didn’t hit it in the water on 15. So that’s a perfect example. I was six shots better, I didn’t hit it in the water on 15, and I had three less three-putts, so there you go.”
Bradley on the Ryder Cup
Keegan Bradley hears the Ryder Cup talk.
He can’t get away from it.
As he says, people with microphones are asking him and people along fairways are yelling to him about it.
A win at the Tour Championship would certainly help his case to be one of six captain’s picks.
But he won’t make a pitch to U.S. captain Zach Johnson to be a part of next month’s international competition. Bradley is 11th in the Ryder Cup point standings.
Six players for the U.S. team have secured automatic qualifying berths. Scottie Scheffler, Wyndham Clark, Patrick Cantlay, Brian Harman, Max Homa and Xander Schauffele are in. Johnson will make the final six selections on Tuesday, two days after the FedEx Cup finale.
“I feel like I’ve had a great year,” said Bradley, who at 13-under par is fourth at the Tour Championship through two rounds, three strokes off the lead. “Won twice. Won at Hartford, which had one of the best fields in the world. But, listen, I’m not going to pitch Zach. He knows who I am. He knows the type of player I am. He also knows the type of player all these other guys are that are up for picks and they’re all incredible players and good guys. So I’m going to do my best to play great golf the next two days and see what happens.”
Schauffele always a factor
The real unsurprising, dog-bites-man story through two rounds of the Tour Championship is that Xander Schauffele is flirting with the lead.
Ho-hum, he shot 64 Friday and is just four back of the lead heading into the weekend.
While not exactly Bobby Jones, Schauffele is in the running for the title of Modern Day Mr. East Lake. He won the tournament here in 2017 when it was a separate title from the FedEx Cup championship. And has six top-10 finishes at the course.
In his 26 rounds here, Schauffele has shot under par 23 times and never has ventured over par.
“You got to sort of plot around the property well and if you can get your putter going, the greens are so pure you feel like you can start rolling anything in,” he said Friday, explaining his method.
“It must just fit my eye. I’m not really sure. But, yeah, I mean, I played pretty well around the property and I’m going to need some more of that magic here on the weekend,” he said.
Dealing with the heat
With temperatures reaching the high 90s during the first two rounds Thursday and Friday, a tournament official declined to give a specific number of spectators that required medical attention but said it was “a handful and consistent of what we see at a typical event.”
Weather
Sunny skies Saturday morning will become partly cloudy in the afternoon. There is a 20% probability of isolated showers and short-lived thunderstorms after 3 p.m. The high will be 99 degrees with a heat index of 105 degrees.
Sunny skies Sunday morning will become partly cloudy in the afternoon. There is 40% probability of scattered thunderstorms on Sunday afternoon. The high will be 96 degrees with a head index of 103 degrees.
