Tour Championship 2021 R2
September 02-05
East Lake Golf Club, Atlanta, Georgia
Round 1, Round 3, Round 4

Estimated reading time: 6 minutes

Jon Rahm produced the best round of the day once again on Friday to get closer to leader Patrick Cantlay. He started the day two shots behind playing partner Cantlay and fired six birdies and a single bogey for a 65 to reach 16-under.

"You definitely feed off the other player," said Rahm. "When you have somebody like him who played a round with very few mistakes, you could argue that it could have been a lot lower, it only motivates me to keep doing a little bit better.

Tour Championship 2021 R2

"Even though I want to focus on myself, every time you see a score, you know he's not going to let up and he keeps putting it in the fairway and on the green and in the fairway and on the green, you know, kind of raises -- it can raise your playing level a little bit as well as much as me raising his level when I'm making birdies. So we definitely feed off each other and that's probably why you see the difference in the scoreboard right now.

"At this point it just feels like we played two rounds and I'm going to go into the weekend in a great position. That's about it. I'm not really thinking on the ground because it's three shots over 36 holes, it really not that much. And starting four shots back over 72 holes it truly isn't that much. It's one shot a round and that is absolutely nothing. I mean, bigger leads have been overcome in a lot shorter time. So haven't really thought about it like that."

Tour Championship 2021 R2

Cantlay shot four birdies for a bogey-free 66, hitting 16 of 18 greens, to hold on to the lead of the Tour Championship at 17-under.

"I thought the two rounds were very similar, mostly mistake-free, both rounds, and I hit the ball pretty well, kept the ball in control, fat side mostly, and had really nice speed on the greens and just didn't make very much," said Cantlay.

Tour Championship 2021 R2

"But that can kind of be this golf course because of the degree of slope they put the pins on is very extreme. So you have putts and you might be 10, 12 feet, but you almost have to be a little defensive or at least you have to be careful because the pins are on so much slope. But I thought it was a good start. I'm playing really well and I think I'm playing the golf course the right way. 3

"I played well all day, but didn't really get the most I could have out of my round, but then birdied the last couple holes, made a couple nice putts. So I think that's kind of this golf course. You don't ever really want to press because it's that classic golf course where you don't want to short side yourself, you don't want to hit it over greens, so staying really diligent and hitting the ball to the fat side I think is a good recipe for success around this place."

Tour Championship 2021 R2

Both are far ahead of the field with Bryson DeChambeau in third place at 11-under after a second round 67 that featured five birdies and two bogeys.

Justin Thomas, who fired four birdies, an eagle at the par-5 6th and three bogeys on the back nine for a 67, lies in fourth place at 10-under.

"It was scrappy. It was a grind. Disappointing. I mean, to finish the way I did was definitely disappointing. But to be even 5-under with how I was driving it was pretty impressive. I just really, for as good as I drove it yesterday, and I felt as in control as I was, I hit some really squirrely drives and try to go figure that out on the range here this afternoon.

"My tendency with the driver is to get a little long and across the line, and so I would assume that's kind of what it was. I was trying just to hit shots out there. And I wasn't too far off. The worst drives I hit were really my last two holes on 17 and 18. But I hit a lot of drives that were pretty close, or at least they were solid. But, yeah, just go hopefully iron that out and be good."

Tour Championship 2021 R2

Rory McIlroy started off his second round with two bogeys and a birdie to make the turn in 36. He fired six birdies and a single bogey on the back nine for a 66 and a share of tenth place at 8-under alongside Jordan Spieth and Louis Oosthuizen who both shot 67s.

"I got off to a poor start and then once I got it going there on the back nine and just kept hitting good iron shots pretty close and converting few of them," said McIlroy. "And then I finished with a flourish. I birdied those last three holes and played those really well.

"So, but yeah, once you get the ball in play here, I think it's, the pins, I thought the pins today were pretty tricky because all of them were, even if you hit the ball close, I hit a few wedge shots to like four, five feet and you still had big breaking putts or if you're on the wrong side of the hole, it's still tricky. But to be 2-over through 4 and play the last 14 in 6-under was a really good effort to at least just keep myself in the tournament."

Tour Championship 2021 R2