Nothing set in stone just yet – babies being such contrary creatures – but a PGA Tour spokesman said Wednesday that defending FedEx Cup champion Rory McIlroy was expected to arrive at East Lake sometime Thursday, one day in advance of the Tour Championship’s opening round.
Since Sunday, he has been at home in south Florida with his wife, Erica, who was due to deliver the couple’s first child this week. As of Wednesday evening, there was no definitive word on a birth. And McIlroy said he would be willing to miss this playoff finale, with all its huge payouts, to be there for the big moment.
While McIlroy’s pre-tournament news conference Thursday was canceled, tournament organizers said they had received word that the world’s No. 4-ranked player was planning to fly to Atlanta by then.
The winner here this week pockets $15 million. Fifth place pays $2.5 million, more than any regular PGA Tour event. But certain life events – especially for someone like McIlroy, with more than $53 million in career PGA Tour earnings – are worth more than that.
East Lake in fine shape: A soggy August, one with 16 days of rain, has left the difficult Bermuda rough at East Lake a little lusher this week. It even got a trim to 2-1/2 inches earlier, a rare happening for tournament week. But with the favorable weather forecast, director of agronomy Ralph Kepple expects conditions to drift toward firm.
“We’re set up for a good week,” said Kepple, in his 28th year at East Lake. “Now that the rain has stopped and we’re drying out, everything is firming up, and I think we’ll have a good week.”
The only real change came on the back tee at No. 15. Some trees were taken down there and two teeing areas were combined, creating a larger tee box and giving tournament officials more options.
Schauffle looks like a well-made bed at East Lake: Kids, if you want to grow up to be a PGA Tour pro like Xander Schauffele, make your bed.
“There have been books about it, about how important it is to start the day with a win,” Schauffele said, explaining Wednesday one technique he used to build a focused mindset. “I don’t know if it’s changing much, but for a few weeks now I’ve been trying to make my bed.”
That’s at home or on the road, in a hotel or rental property. He is a maid’s best friend.
“I don’t think I’ve played a whole lot better, in all honesty,” he admitted. “But I do feel like I start the day with a win, which is nice.”
This week, he also should be keeping a very tidy scorecard at the Tour Championship. Because nobody does East Lake like Schauffele.
In the past 10 years, Schauffele has the lowest scoring average (67.75) among players with a minimum of 12 rounds played at the Tour Championship. Second is 2014 FedEx Cup winner Billy Horschel (67.83), and third is Paul Casey (68.42). That according Justin Ray of 15thclub.com.
Schauffele announced his presence with authority when he won the 2017 Tour Championship as a rookie. He finished T7 in ’18 and in second last year, the first contested under the staggered scoring system.
“Yeah, well, (East Lake) has become a favorite of mine for several reasons,” Schauffele said Wednesday in advance of his fourth consecutive Tour Championship appearance. At 14th in the FedEx Cup standings, he’ll begin the tournament at 3 under, spotting leader Dustin Johnson seven strokes.
Not entirely content with how he’s played this year - no victories, no real close calls lately - he’s hoping for a little help from the healing waters of East Lake
“Hopefully some old memories will spark on property here and I can get something going,” he said.
This year’s only major champ in a good position: PGA champion Collin Morikawa will start the Tour Championship in fifth place, five shots off the lead. Is that a lot or a little? Based on the example set by Rory McIlroy, who was in the same position a year ago and won the FedEx Cup, Morikawa wasn’t sure.
“All you can do is show up and play good golf,” he said. “I don’t look at it like I need to make up five shots in the next five holes at the beginning of my round. This is a four-day tournament still, and there’s going to be lots of up, a lot of downs, a lot of swings throughout the entire tournament.
“But just to my myself a chance, can we come down by Monday and make the turn, front nine, and be in the mix, and that’s the key. … We’ve got a lot of work to do, being five shots out, but to know that it’s been done is nice.”
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