Golf, Tour Championship | Scheffler commands with Rahm close behind

The American delivered a card of -5, which was accumulated to the -10 he had for his good campaign

The Spaniard, who started with -3, made five birdies and two bogeys and tied for ninth position with a total of -6

The American Scottie Schefflernumber one in the world, dominated this Thursday with solvency the first day of the Tour Championshipin which the Chilean Joaquín Niemann shone and in which the Spanish Jon Rahm signed a good performance which places him among the best in the tournament.

The East Lake Golf Club in Atlanta (Georgia, USA) hosts until Sunday this tournament that closes the PGA calendar and is played by the 30 best players on the circuit (with the exception of injury to the American Will Zalatoris, third in the ranking) . The winner of the Tour Championship will take home the FedEx Cup title, which on the PGA Tour recognizes the best golfer on the course after regular season tournaments and a playoff system with three rounds at the end. The first of those three knockout tournaments was St. Jude, in which the top 125 on the circuit played; the BMW Championship was played later with only the best 70; and to the Tour Championship only the first 30 of the classification have already passed.

Another peculiarity of the Tour Championship is that, in order to recognize the achievements and merits of each player during the season, the best golfers they start with blows ahead respect to the rest. Thus, Scottie Scheffler, who is leading the FedEx Cup standings, started the Tour Championship with -10, Patrick Cantlay (second) started with -8, Xander Schauffele (fourth) started it with -6, etc. With these questions in mind, Scheffler fulfilled his role as his favorite and closed Thursday with -15 in total (-5 in his run, which is added to the -10 he had from the start) by registering an eagle, four birdies and a bogey. . In second place appears the also American Xander Schauffele with -10 (-4 in this round and -6 out).

Without taking into account the advantage shots, the best in this opening day were the English Matt Fitzpatrick and the Chilean Joaquín Niemann with a splendid card of -6 each. In this way, Fitzpatrick is third in the standings with -9 in total and Niemann (an eagle, five birdies and a bogey this Thursday) is tied for fourth position with -8 with the American Patrick Cantlay. The ranking can be a bit misleading as Niemann had a fantastic day (he started with -2) while Cantlay, who was -8 before he started playing, could only sign par for the field.

On the other hand, the Spanish John Rahmwith good feelings, offered a solid performance with a card of -3 (five birdies and two bogeys) that leaves him with -6 in total (he had a -3 start) and tied for ninth position with four other players.

End of season for the PGA Tour

The Tour Championship puts the finishing touch to a very convulsive, difficult season full of questions on the PGA Tour due to the irruption of the controversial Saudi Arabian LIV Golf. With significant economic incentives for its players, LIV Golf aspires to organize a circuit that rivals the quality and prestige of the US-based tour.

In May, the PGA Tour denied permission for players on its circuit to compete in LIV Golf, which led to disciplinary measures and the abandonment of the PGA Tour on the way to LIV Golf by golfers such as the Spanish Sergio García, Dustin Johnson, Phil Mickelson , Ian Poulter, Lee Westwood, Brooks Koepka, the Mexican Abraham Ancer or Louis Oosthuizen, among many others.

To prevent more players from leaving, the PGA Tour has announced in recent months improvements to its prizes and changes to its circuit – the latest developments in this regard were announced on Wednesday on the eve of the Tour Championship-. In addition, the TGL (The Golf League) was presented on Wednesday, a new league promoted by Tiger Woods and Rory McIlroy in collaboration with the PGA Tour that aims to unite golf, television entertainment and the latest technology in a new format.