Scottie Scheffler started the Tour Championship with a two-shot lead based on his dominant season. And then he looked dominant as ever Thursday, posting the best round at 6-under 65 to build a seven-shot lead and take a huge step toward the FedEx Cup title.

Scheffler had five birdies over his last seven holes on a sweltering afternoon at renovated East Lake in Atlanta to pull away from Xander Schauffele and everyone else.

Scheffler was the No. 1 seed based on his six PGA Tour wins, which includes the Masters and The Players Championship. He started the tournament at 10-under par and with a two-shot lead over Xander Schauffele, the No. 2 seed.

Collin Morikawa (66) and Schauffele (70) were at 9 under. Another shot back was a large group that included among others Adam Scott (66), Hideki Matsuyama (70), who won the first playoff event, and Keegan Bradley (69), who went from No. 50 to No. 4 by winning the BMW Championship last week.

Colleges: The National College Players Association (NCPA), a prominent advocacy group for student-athletes, announced it opposes the $2.8 billion settlement agreement of antitrust litigation facing the NCAA and major college conferences, saying a plan for schools to share athletics revenue will actually limit the earning potential of the athletes. NCPA said the so-called House settlement aims to eliminate booster-funded collectives that are currently responsible for millions of dollars in payments to college athletes for the right to use their names, images and likenesses. A court hearing is scheduled for next Thursday, where a federal judge in California could rule on the plaintiffs’ request for preliminary approval of the deal, which includes $2.78 billion in damages to former and current college athletes. ... Wisconsin hired longtime NFL coach Jack Del Rio to its football staff, where he will serve as senior adviser to Badgers head coach Luke Fickell. Del Rio, the former Jaguars and Raiders head coach, most recently served as Commanders defensive coordinator until he was fired in November. A former linebacker at USC and with four NFL teams, Del Rio, 61, has spent his entire coaching career at the pro level.

NFL: The Patriots named veteran QB Jacoby Brissett their starter for their season opener against the Bengals. The 31-year-old Brissett gets the nod over rookie first-round draft pick Drake Maye. ... The Browns restructured QB Deshaun Watson’s contract for the third time, converting $44.79 million of his $46 million base salary this season into a signing bonus. The move frees up almost $36 million in cap space for the team. ... After initially planning to sign with the Jets, S Lewis Cine, 24, instead Thursday signed with the Bills. The No. 32 pick in the 2022 draft was waived by the Vikings this week.

WNBA: Caitlin Clark broke the WNBA rookie record for 3-pointers in a season during the Fever’s 84-80 victory over the visiting Sun on Wednesday night. The No. 1 overall pick in the draft has 88 3-pointers in 31 games. The Dream’s Rhyne Howard, the No. 1 overall pick and rookie of the year in 2022, previously held the record of 85 (34 games). Clark previously set the rookie season assist record.