It all comes down to this. The best players on the PGA Tour — 29 of them, to be exact — continue play Friday in the second round of the 2022 Tour Championship. Typically meant for the top 30 players in the FedEx Cup, the odd number comes as Will Zalatoris was forced to withdrawal from competition after suffering a back injury in the third round of the BMW Championship.
World No. 1 Scottie Scheffler began the week atop the leaderboard at 10 under and increased his advantage through the first 18 holes, shooting 5 under on Thursday to lead the field by as many strokes. Reigning PGA Tour Player of the Year and defending FedEx Cup champion Patrick Cantlay sat two back of Scheffler entering the week but now stands seven behind Scheffler after shooting an even-par 70 in his first round.
While there was a potential for this to turn into a two-man race, Xander Schauffele had something to say in Round 1 about the outcome of the FedEx Cup. Starting at 6 under, he shot a 66 to vault up the leaderboard into solo second place behind Scheffler. Between that duo and Cantlay are Matt Fitzpatrick and Joaquin Niemann, who shot matching 64s to move inside the top five.
Here is a look at every starting group for the second round of the 2022 Tour Championship at East Lake. All times Eastern
2022 Tour Championship tee times, Round 2 pairings
11:35 a.m. — Corey Conners
11:45 a.m. — Max Homa, Sahith Theegala
11:55 a.m. — Tony Finau, Viktor Hovland
12:05 p.m. — K.H. Lee, Hideki Matsuyama
12:15 p.m. — Scott Stallings, Adam Scott
12:25 p.m. — Brian Harman, Billy Horschel
12:35 p.m. — Collin Morikawa, Jordan Spieth
12:45 p.m. — J.T. Poston, Tom Hoge
12:55 p.m. — Sam Burns, Aaron Wise
1:05 p.m. — Jon Rahm, Sepp Straka
1:15 p.m. — Cameron Young, Justin Thomas
1:25 p.m. — Cameron Smith, Rory McIlroy
1:35 p.m. — Patrick Cantlay, Sungjae Im
1:45 p.m. — Matt Fitzpatrick, Joaquin Niemann
1:55 p.m. — Scottie Scheffler, Xander Schauffele
Jonathan Coachman and Kyle Porter recap Thursday’s action at the Tour Championship. Follow & listen to The First Cut on Apple Podcasts and Spotify.