FedExCup leader Patrick Cantlay (-13) began the Tour Championship at 10-under with a two-stroke advantage and maintained that advantage. Jon Rahm opened with 5-under 65 for the second consecutive year. Harris English scored the first hole-in-one at No. 15 at East Lake during the TOUR Championship. Bryson DeChambeau birdied the final three holes to shoot 1-under 69 in PGA Tour’s season finale.
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Korea’s Sungjae Im opened with a 71 for T23 position and finished the day 11 shots behind the lead. He made four birdies and had five bogeys on his back nine. He is making his third appearance in the TOUR Championship, finishing 11th last year and T19 in 2019. His lowest round at East Lake is a 64 during the second round last year.
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Japan’s Hideki Matsuyama carded his highest score at East Lake with a 77 to end the day in last place in 30th position. He made one birdie against five bogeys and one triple bogey. He is making his eighth straight appearance in the TOUR Championship. His low round at East Lake is a 65 shot during the final round in 2018.
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For the third season, the TOUR Championship is weighted by FedExCup Starting Strokes, with the format crowning a single champion at the conclusion of the TOUR Championship.
The player with the lowest score in relation to par combined with his FedExCup starting strokes will win the TOUR Championship and the FedExCup.
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Before Thursday’s 67, Cantlay was 9-over in his previous three rounds at East Lake (73-75-71). He is making fourth appearance at TOUR Championship (T21/2019, T21/2018, T20/2017).
He is seeking his fourth title this season, his first season with more than one victory. He
won last week’s BMW Championship following T11 at THE NORTHERN TRUST, the first FedExCup Playoffs event.
Rahm, the 2021 U.S. Open champion sits 11-under and two strokes back after starting four strokes behind.
-3 on his last 6 gets @JonRahmPGA to -10. pic.twitter.com/utPZCdwoL2
— PGA TOUR (@PGATOUR) September 2, 2021
He made seven birdies, the most of any player in the field. He opened with 65 for the second consecutive year; opening rounds at East Lake since 2017: 67-68-68-65-65.
Rahm is making fifth appearance at the TOUR Championship (4th/2020, T12/2019, T11/2018, T7/2017).
He notched top-10 results at first two FedExCup Playoffs events (T3/THE NORTHERN TRUST, T9/BMW Championship).
🙌 English’s electric ace
🏌️♂️ Sergio calls his shot
💪 Cantlay holds strong on topIt’s The Takeaway from Day 1 @PlayoffFinale, presented by @FedEx. pic.twitter.com/COg1Bj0uIF
— PGA TOUR (@PGATOUR) September 3, 2021
Harris English seeks his third title this season, his first season with more than one victory. He holed a 5-iron for the first hole-in-one at the 224-yard 15th hole en route to a 5-under 65.
After being defeated on the sixth hole of a sudden-death playoff at last week’s BMW Championship, Dechambeau birdied final three holes for 1-under 69 but fell five strokes back after starting three behind at 7-under.
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