Scottie Scheffler has no special treatment for the Tour Championship, describes scenario where he’d be ‘pretty far back from the lead’

Scottie Scheffler has started strongly at the 2024 Tour Championship. He finished on the top of the leaderboard at the end of the first round at East Lake Golf Club in Atlanta, Georgia.

Scheffler started the tournament with a score of 10 under, scoring a bogey on the first hole and losing his lead. However, he ultimately scored well and had the lowest round among 30 players, of 6-under 65, taking his score to 16 under par.

Scheffler comes to the Tour Championship atop the FedExCup standings for the third year. In his post-round press conference, he was asked how important it is to get off on the right foot and said:

"Just like any other tournament, if I came out here and shot 2-over par and this was a regular stroke play event, I'd be sitting pretty far back from the lead. So treating it like I would any other tournament, just staying in my lane and doing the things I'm good at and that's just trying to focus on the task at hand and let all the other stuff take care of itself."

Scottie Scheffler is currently seven shots ahead of Xander Schauffele and Collin Morikawa who are tied for second. If he had scored 2-over par at the tournament, he'd be ranked lower in the leaderboard. However, the lowest score in the first round has given him a headstart.

The weather conditions at East Lake Golf Club were hot and humid. Scheffler was asked if the hot weather and the fact that it's the last week of the season would make this tournament as much a test of stamina.

"I think there's definitely an aspect to that, especially coming off two weeks in a row where you had a really hot week in Memphis and you had some altitude this week that the definitely tire guys out a little bit, so I'm sure there will be an aspect to that," Scottie Scheffler said.

Scheffler will tee off with Collin Morikawa at 2 p.m. ET in the second round of the Tour Championship on Friday, August 30.

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How much has Scottie Scheffler earned so far in 2024?

Scottie Scheffler has earned $29,228,358 overall in his sensational 2024 season. He has had six wins and 15 top-10 finishes in 18 starts, with $23,300,000 coming from the wins alone. He is far ahead of Xander Schauffele who's ranked second in the list of total earnings this year and earned $18,355,910 overall.

Here's a look at Scheffler's performances and earnings in the 2024 season:

• The Sentry: T5 ($690,500)
• The American Express: T17 ($132,300)
• AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am: T6 ($642,500)
• WM Phoenix Open: T3 ($519,200)
• The Genesis Invitational: T10 ($455,000)
• Arnold Palmer Invitational pres. by Mastercard: 1 ($4,000,000)
• THE PLAYERS Championship: 1 ($4,500,000)
• Texas Children's Houston Open: T2 ($553,735)
• Masters Tournament: 1 ($3,600,000)
• RBC Heritage: 1 ($3,600,000)
• PGA Championship: T8 ($521,418)
• Charles Schwab Challenge: T2 ($809,900)
• the Memorial Tournament pres. by Workday: 1 ($4,000,000)
• U.S. Open: T41 ($72,305)
• Travelers Championship: 1-x ($3,600,000)
• The Open: T7 ($451,833)
• FedEx St. Jude Championship: 4 ($960,000)
• BMW Championship: T33 ($119,667)