X Shoots 63: Horses for Courses at East Lake

We talk of horses for courses in this great game. Where the fairway just suits the eye, the greens roll at the right speed, the favored shot shape aligns with the golfer’s swing. Think Nicklaus at Augusta (six wins), Tiger at Torrey Pines, Bay Hill, Firestone (all with eight wins. Yes, eight). Phil Mickelson at Pebble Beach (five).

And it seems Xander at East Lake could be the next addition. The young American finished birdie-birdie-eagle to shoot 62 yesterday and is a combined 43 under par on the back nine since 2017. He fired a 4-iron in tight on the 18^th to set up a 5-foot eagle putt, burying it to sit two behind leader Scottie Scheffler after two rounds.

Friday charge at East Lake 👀 pic.twitter.com/hFmnU7VnMG

— Xander Schauffele (@XSchauffele) August 26, 2022

With a win in 2017 and runner-up in 2019 and 2020 – Xander Schauffele has finished no worse than T7^th in this event in his career thus far (2018). Seventh place nets you $2m this year. Not a bad collection.

In his East Lake visits since 2017, Schauffele has amassed almost $14m dollars. A win here this weekend more than doubles that total and would place him in the Top 35 on the all-time Money List on the PGA Tour from East Lake alone.

Birdie-birdie-eagle finish for Xander Schauffele who cards a back nine 29 and cuts the lead to 2.

Schauffele is a combined 43-under-par on the back nine at East Lake since 2017, 14 shots better than any other player in that span.

— Justin Ray (@JustinRayGolf) August 26, 2022

The format looks likely to bring a duel between two of the best players in the world, as the rest of the field is too far behind to make a charge. With an equal start to the tournament, Xander would be leading Scheffler by 1 through two rounds at -11. Due to the staggered start format, the benefit obviously belongs to World #1 Scheffler, a cert for Player of the Year in 2022. Don’t write off Schauffele yet, who has had a sneakily good year, sandwiching his back-to-back wins in the middle of the summer there.

Let’s see what the weekend brings!

Cover Image Via Star Tribune