"Scottie was almost in every fairway"- Xander Schauffele on the expectation vs. reality of playing the Tour Championship

Following the first round of the Tour Championship, Xander Schauffele gave a thumbs-up to East Lake Golf Club, citing Scottie Scheffler's example, who had a smooth day after hitting ten of the fourteen fairways.

On Thursday, August 29, Schauffele carded a 1-under 70 in the opening round, bringing his total to 9-under and placing him seven strokes behind Scheffler. He is tied with Collin Morikawa after Day 1 at East Lake.

During the post-round interview, Schauffele assessed the East Lake Golf Club.

"It was pretty straightforward," he said. "Scottie was almost in every fairway it looked like. It looked like he was going through wedge practice while he was out there.

"If you're in the fairway you can attack this golf course. I think they've been pretty fair with how they put the pins and the tees knowing how firm the greens are, so I think the Tour did a good job there not really putting too many par-3s over 200 yards kind of hugging that 190 to 170-ish range," he added.

Schauffele had a mixed day at the Tour Championship opener, with a driving accuracy of just 50%. He maintained a clean sheet until the 11th hole, where he made his first bogey, followed by another on the 16th. He picked up just three birdies on Day 1.

---

When will Xander Schauffele tee off at the Tour Championship, Round 2?

Xander Schauffele is paired with Adam Scott for the second round of the Tour Championship. The duo will tee off on Friday, August 30 at 1:49 pm ET.

Christiaan Bezuidenhout and Billy Horschel will kickstart the second round of the Tour Championship, teeing off at 11:16 am ET. Scottie Scheffler and Collin Morikawa will be the last pair to tee off on Friday. The pair will begin the round at 2:00 pm ET on Friday.

Here are the complete tee time details for the 2024 Tour Championship, Round 2 (all times ET):

• 11:16 a.m: Christiaan Bezuidenhout, Billy Horschel
• 11:27 a.m: Tommy Fleetwood, Chris Kirk
• 11:38 a.m: Akshay Bhatia, Tom Hoge
• 11:49 a.m: Tony Finau, Ben An
• 12:00 p.m: Robert MacIntyre, Viktor Hovland
• 12:16 p.m: Ludvig Åberg, Sepp Straka
• 12:27 p.m: Shane Lowry, Sungjae Im
• 12:38 p.m: Aaron Rai, Matthieu Pavon
• 12:49 p.m: Rory McIlroy, Justin Thomas
• 1:00 p.m: Russell Henley, Patrick Cantlay
• 1:16 p.m: Sahith Theegala, Taylor Pendrith
• 1:27 p.m: Hideki Matsuyama, Keegan Bradley
• 1:38 p.m: Sam Burns, Wyndham Clark
• 1:49 p.m: Xander Schauffele, Adam Scott
• 2:00 p.m: Scottie Scheffler, Collin Morikawa