Rory McIlroy up to second but six shots behind Scottie Scheffler

McIlroy wrapped up a 7-under 63 that pushed him all the way up to a tie for second place in the PGA Tour season-ending Tour Championship.

LEADER: Scottie Scheffler watches his shot on the fifth tee during the third round of the Tour Championship golf tournament at East Lake Golf Club in Atlanta. Pic: AP Photo/John Bazemore

Rory McIlroy did all he could in Sunday morning’s restart. Scottie Scheffler did even more.

McIlroy birdied the only two holes he had left to play when the third round resumed at East Lake Golf Club on Sunday morning, wrapping up a 7-under 63 that pushed him all the way up to a tie for second place in the PGA Tour season-ending Tour Championship.

Scheffler, however, had a little more room to work and took advantage of the perfect morning conditions to birdie four of his six remaining holes to open up a six-shot lead on McIlroy and Xander Schauffele entering the final round in the afternoon.

Scheffler (23-under) and McIlroy (17-under) will be paired together in the final round at East Lake with the $18 million FexEd Cup at stake for the winner.

“It's a perfect way to end the round. I think hitting the two good shots into 17 and converting that, and then the two good swings on 18, yeah, it's the perfect way to start the day, and hopefully I can continue that into this afternoon,” McIlroy said.

“I'm probably going to start a few shots back than where I would like to. I'd like to be a couple closer to the lead. But Scottie has got that advantage because of how well he's played all year.” 

McIlroy started the tournament already six shots behind Scheffler with the staggered starting scores based on the season and playoff points rankings. He and Scheffler have played three rounds in 13-under.

“I haven't been in that position before, but it'll be a little new,” said Scheffler. “But at the end of the day, it's still a golf tournament and I've been in some intense situations this year, the Masters definitely being one of them and the other three tournaments (I won).” 

To catch the world No. 1 and become the first player to win three FedEx Cup titles, McIlroy is going to need a little help from the leader. McIlroy previously won the season-long race in 2016 and 2019.

“I can't go out and do anything too differently really,” McIlroy said. “The golf course is the golf course. I play it the way I play it. It's just a matter of if I can execute my game plan as well as possible and give myself a ton of birdie looks, and it's still going to be receptive out there and it's going to be very gettable.

“You saw how many low scores there was there in the third round, and I think you're going to see a continuation of that into this afternoon.

“This golf course, again, it is what it is. I don't think you can be overly aggressive because you can put yourself in some bad spots, especially with the Bermuda rough and how unpredictable that is. You still have to play a controlled round of golf and be disciplined, but there's still a way to marry being disciplined with shooting a low score, and that's what I did over the last couple days.” 

Schauffele, who twice moved into a share of the lead in the third round, failed to capitalize on the restart and played his remaining six holes in 1-over to fall into share of second with an even-par 70.

“It's simple, just chasing. I put myself in a good position after two rounds, and shooting even par out here on tour is never going to get it done, unless it's blowing 100 miles an hour,” said Schauffele, who has twice shot the lowest 72-hole score at the Tour Championship but never won the FedEx Cup. “Yeah, I just need to put my head down.”