Koepka part of 3-way tie atop Tour Championship after Round 1
Brooks Koepka, Justin Thomas, and Xander Schauffele share a piece of the Tour Championship lead after Round 1 at East Lake Golf Club.
Koepka - who started the day at 7-under with the new staggered-scoring format implemented for the FedEx Cup Playoff finale - carded a 3-under 67 on Thursday, which was capped by three birdies in his final four holes.
Thomas entered the tournament with a two-stroke lead at 10-under as the FedEx Cup points leader but failed to improve his score with an even-par 70. A costly double-bogey on the easy par-3 15th derailed Thomas' day.
Schauffele recorded the low round of the day, firing a 6-under 64 to quickly erase the six-shot deficit he started the tournament with. He won at East Lake in 2017 as a rookie.
The trio of leaders sits one shot up on Rory McIlroy, who improved his standing by four shots with a 66 on Thursday.
Here's how the top of the leaderboard looks after Round 1:
| Place | Player | To Par | R1 Score |
|---|---|---|---|
| T1 | Xander Schauffele | -10 | 64 |
| T1 | Brooks Koepka | -10 | 67 |
| T1 | Justin Thomas | -10 | 70 |
| 4 | Rory McIlroy | -9 | 66 |
| T5 | Matt Kuchar | -8 | 66 |
| T5 | Patrick Cantlay | -8 | 70 |
| 7 | Hideki Matsuyama | -7 | 66 |
| T8 | Paul Casey | -6 | 66 |
| T8 | Jon Rahm | -6 | 68 |
| T8 | Patrick Reed | -6 | 70 |
Matt Kuchar, Hideki Matsuyama, and Paul Casey - along with McIlroy - all carded 4-under 66s, tied for the second-lowest round of the Tour Championship.
World No. 2 Dustin Johnson struggled to a 3-over 73. He fell into a tie for 23rd overall and is now 10 shots off the lead.
Friday's second round begins at 12:00 p.m. ET.