Scottie Scheffler seven shots ahead of the chasing pack at Tour Championship

Scottie Scheffler held off the chasing pack with a stellar back nine to take a seven-shot lead into the second round of the Tour Championship.

The world number one was put under pressure by a sensational six-straight birdie run from Collin Morikawa and Xander Schaufele. 

Morikawa, who was one over heading into the back nine, drained six birdies in a row on the back nine to post 66. But Scheffler responded with birdies at 12, 13, 14, 17 and 18 to card a six-under round-of-the-day 65.

As the player with the most FedEx Cup points from the regular season, Masters champion Scheffler started the week on 10 under par, with US PGA and Open winner Xander Schauffele on eight under.

Schauffele was only able to improve his score by one shot with a round of 70 leaving him tied for second with Morikawa on nine under.

Rory McIlroy is 10 shots off the pace despite an opening-round 69.

"I'm happy with how I hung in there and had a good finish," McIlroy told Sky Sports.

"When I saw Scottie had gotten to 14, I was like, 'oh, got to try to just hang on to the coattails a little bit'.

"Still feel like I've got a chance, and it was nice to finish the way I did."