The number of fresh faces at East Lake was one storyline entering the Tour Championship. There are nine first timers here (excluding Will Zalatoris who withdrew because of injury). It’s the most debuts the Tour Championship has featured since hosting 11 first-timers in 2010.
The newbies are experiencing mixed results. Sepp Straka, who was the highest ranked first-timer at No. 9, has ascended the board over three days. Straka shot 68 in each of the first two rounds before a superb showing Saturday before inclement weather suspended the third round into Sunday.
Straka had seven birdies before play halted when he was on 17. He was 6 under for the round, tied with Justin Thomas for the second-best result Saturday, and 14 under on the weekend.
Cameron Young, who started No. 14, has dropped to T-18 after shooing 1 over through 16 holes Saturday. Matt Fitzpatrick (1 under Saturday through 17 holes) has dropped a spot from No. 15 and sits 9 under on the weekend.
Newcomer Max Homa shot a day’s best 62 on Friday, the lowest round produced at the Tour Championship since 2007. Homa did it with some sensational putting, helping him climb from No. 16 before the tournament to T-8 entering Saturday. He was T-10 when play ceased after shooting 3 under through 16 holes.
Tom Hoge is another winner, vaulting from No. 23 to T-10. He’s 12 under for the weekend after going 3 under across 16 holes Saturday. He shot 66 in each of the first two rounds. Hoge had four birdies on the front nine Saturday, including the first two holes.
J.T. Poston, the Hickory, North Carolina native who’s already discussed his love for the Braves, has helped his standing. He’s leaped to No. 15 after shooting 65 and 69 over the first two days and shooting 4 under Saturday. He completed the third round, so he’ll enter the final stage 10 under.
Scott Stallings, who entered as No. 12, K.H. Lee, who started No. 26, and Sahith Theegala, who entered as No. 28, have mostly struggled and sit at or near the bottom of the standings. Each finished their rounds Saturday.
Theegala began the day 3 over, but shot a 67, by far his best round, making him par for the weekend. Stallings also is even on the weekend after shooting 1 under in the third round. Lee shot a 1 under Saturday, which is his score for the tournament and makes him 26th in the 29-man field.
Cantlay struggles putting at East Lake
The greens at East Lake are about as pure as man and nature can build in partnership. There is not a single blemish. Nor are they particularly tricky, possessing little of the pitch and roll of the putting surfaces at Augusta National.
But they have baffled Patrick Cantlay, last year’s Tour Championship winner.
The fact that Cantlay stood only five strokes back of Tour Championship leader Scottie Scheffler when play was halted Saturday is something of a wonder since he is in the midst of a career-worst putting performance. With five holes left to play in his third round, Cantlay is last in the field in strokes gained (or, in his case, lost) putting − at minus-6.839. That means relative to the rest of this field, he has thus far lost nearly 7 strokes on the green.
According to how Cantlay finishes his third round Sunday morning, he could put up an historically bad putting performance. His worst 54-hole strokes gained putting number was minus-6.106 in 2020 in the CJ Cup at Shadow Creek.
Oddly enough, East Lake is the site of his worst strokes gained putting career total (minus-21.287). A distant second has been Torrey Pines (minus-8.303).
Schauffele’s back-9 love
If the Tour Championship comes to a late Sunday Scheffler/Schauffele Showdown, one stat to keep in mind: Through their first two complete rounds at East Lake, Scottie Scheffler has played the back nine in a combined 4 under. Xander Schauffele, however, has come in a 9 under. And it was his birdie-birdie-eagle finish Friday that put him large in Scheffler’s rearview mirror.
The day’s best
Hideki Matsuyama had the best score Saturday, shooting 63. He’s up to No. 9 at 13 under, a stroke behind a crowded T-5 that includes Justin Thomas, Sepp Straka, Jon Rahm and Cantlay. Thomas and Straka were both 6 under Saturday with play suspended on 17.
