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By Kendall Capps
Senior Editor - Contributor
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Thirty of the world's best golfers are at East Lake Golf Club in Atlanta for the 2025 Tour Championship. Through 18 holes, Russell Henley leads the way after breaking his own course record with a 9-under 61.
Meanwhile, world No. 1 Scottie Scheffler is hot on his heels. He is solo second, two shots back. He played alongside Rory McIlroy on Thursday, who stole the show on the final hole.
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McIlroy was in the greenside bunker on 18. His chip flew the green and struck the grandstands, bouncing back onto the green inside 20 feet of the hole. McIlroy would go on to sink the birdie putt to finish his round at 4-under.
After their rounds, Scheffler was asked his thoughts on how 18 played out.
"I have never rooted so hard for somebody's ball to come back, outside of my partner in a team event," Scheffler told reporters after his round.
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"Because we're walking to 18 and Bones (Jim MacKay) told us they were going to blow (the horn) at any second, so I'm watching his ball fly towards the grandstand. I'm like, oh, my gosh, we've got no way of finishing this thing, so I was relieved when I saw it come back on the green."
The players were the last ones on the course as darkness loomed. Had Rory's ball been buried in the rough, adding an extra 5 to 10 minutes of play, Scheffler might not have been able to finish his round on Thursday.
And what a round it was.
He turned in a clean card with seven birdies, including on 18.
Driving accuracy was a big component to his success. The four-time major winner led the field in strokes gained off-the-tee (+1.50), per DataGolf.
"It's pretty important around this place ... like I said, I hit fairways and holed some nice putts as well."
That has been a recipe for his success in recent years. Scheffler may not hit it as long as other bombers on Tour, but he is deadly accurate, and his iron play is the greatest of his generation.
Scheffler will tee off alongside Henley at 10:44am ET for Friday's second round.
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