Russell Henley birdies last 3 holes
for a 61 to lead Tour Championship over Scheffler
[August 22, 2025]
By DOUG FERGUSON
ATLANTA (AP) — Russell Henley hardly missed a putt. Scottie
Scheffler hardly missed a fairway. They led a parade of players who
seized on the soft conditions at East Lake to begin the race for the
Tour Championship and the season-ending FedEx Cup title.
Henley one-putted six of his last seven holes and made three birdie
putts from 40 feet or longer and, with three straight birdies at the
end, had a 9-under 61 to build a two-shot lead over the world's No.
1 player.
Scheffler didn't miss a beat from last week — really the last five
months — and finished with a 25-foot par save on the 16th and two
birdies for a 63. That's his lowest round by two shots in his six
appearances at East Lake.
The entertainment came from Rory McIlroy, who bladed a bunker shot
on the par-5 18th hole over the green and off the grandstands, and
then back onto the green. He made an 18-foot putt for a most
unlikely birdie.
Scheffler was rooting hard for McIlroy, not so much for the birdie
but so they could avoid a length ruling to finish. Seconds after
Scheffler holed his 4-foot birdie putt, the horn sounded to stop
play because of approaching storms that led to East Lake being
evacuated.
Left behind was a leaderboard filled with red numbers in a
tournament that has a $40 million purse in official money for the
top 30 players, all of them with an equal chance. Only two players
were over par.
Rain hammered East Lake on Wednesday — and again after the first
round ended — leaving the course soft enough that players could
lift, clean and place their golf balls in the short grass.
“I felt like with it being lift, clean and place and somewhat soft
compared to last year when the greens were brand new, it was a
little bit softer, so it was just a little bit more gettable,”
Henley said.
There was also that no-so-small matter of putting. Henley already
has a great reputation with the putter, and on this day he holed
some 207 feet worth of putts.
“Probably the most I've ever made,” he said.
Three of the five players who got in at 64 was enough to wonder
which cup was on their minds. Justin Thomas, Collin Morikawa and
Patrick Cantlay all finished outside the top six who qualified for
the Ryder Cup and have to wait on being one of six captain's picks.
All three are seen as likely picks.
“I don't think you’re ever comfortable until you get that call and
you’re on the team,” Morikawa said. “Look, I hope I’ve done enough.
We’ll have to wait and see. But I think, yeah, my focus right now is
to try and go out and win this golf tournament. I think if I do
that, then hopefully that’s enough, and we’ll see how everything
plays out.”
Scheffler is coming off his fifth victory of the season last week at
the BMW Championship and didn't miss a step. All that slowed him was
some swirling wind as the storm approached, making it a little
tougher to get close for birdie chances with a wedge in hand.
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Scottie Scheffler hits from the first fairway during the first round
of the Tour Championship golf tournament, Thursday, Aug. 21, 2025,
in Atlanta. (AP Photo/Mike Stewart)
The only fairway he missed — except for No. 18, in
which the ball rolled through the middle into the first cut — was at
the 16th, and that left him in his biggest predicament. From the
rough he went down a deep swale to the right, the one place he knew
to avoid.
“I knew going down there right of 16 was a huge penalty. We had
talked about it in the practice rounds,” he said. “And our job was
just to get the ball back on the green, which I did, and it was nice
to hole that long putt.
But it was a reminder of how key it was to keep the ball in play.
“I missed one (fairway) on 16 and all of a sudden I'm almost playing
for bogey,” he said. “It's pretty important around this place.”
Tommy Fleetwood, who keeps giving himself chances at his first win
on the PGA Tour, also was at 66, along with BMW Championship
runner-up Robert MacIntyre, who is ready for a return to Scotland
given how hot has been in Memphis, Baltimore and Atlanta.
“I wear as much sun cream as I possibly can. I look like Casper the
Ghost out there, to be honest. I get a lot of shouts about my sun
cream,” MacIntyre said.
It beats the shouts he got last week at Caves Valley when he lost a
four-shot lead to Scheffler in the final round and was hearing from
the pro-American crowd along the way. MacIntyre was as upset about
how he handled the crowd as he was his golf, but figures it will be
a great teaching moment for him at Bethpage Black for the Ryder Cup
next month.
“There’s a couple of things that I know that I’m going to change,
but do you know what it’s really going to help me for? Bethpage,” he
said. "I'm always going to be fiery, I’m always going to yell,
swear, yell, get angry.
“But just the way I interacted with the crowd, I was trying to keep
them out of the way, but instead of doing what I did on Saturday and
bringing them into it.”
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