For 10 holes, Henrik Stenson put everyone on the “59 watch” at the Tour Championship Thursday afternoon.
The long-hitting Swede was a red-hot seven-under par through his first 10 holes and certainly 59 was a strong possiblity on a day made for scoring at the Tour Championship.
“I was just trying to keep on doing what I was doing,” Stenson said of his trip around East Lake. He shot 29 on his first nine holes capped off by a 25-foot eagle putt at the ninth that had everyone buzzing. He would cool off a bit coming in and shot 63, his only bogey came at the 17th when he was short of the green in two, chipped to six-feet and missed that par putt.
“Still very pleased with the day,” he said afterward.
His round gave him a two-shot edge over Paul Casey. “Just a perfect day to play golf,” is how Casey summed up the conditions that saw no wind, overcast skies and a light drizzle of rain late in the afternoon. Casey was by himself at 65.
Rory McIlroy put his name on the leaderboard with a 66 that put him in at four-under with Open champion Zach Johnson.
FedEx points leader Jason Day messed up his round with a triple-bogey at the fifth hole that wiped out a birdie-birdie-birdie start. Day finished at one under par 69.
Jordan Spieth kept his hopes alive for the $10 million jackpot with a two-under par 68 that could have been a lot better.
But it was Stenson who took center-stage and he did it hitting mostly three-woods off the tee.
“It sets up nicely off the tee for me,” Stenson explained. “I hit three-wood most of the day.”
Things could get interesting on Friday with the weather expected to play a role with rain in the forecast.
