Stenson storms into lead at Tour Championship

Getting back to East Lake was the challenge for Henrik Stenson. Playing the course appears to be the easy part.

Two years after a dominant victory at the Atlanta course to capture the FedEx Cup, Stenson was unstoppable there for 12 holes until he settled for a 7under-par 63 for a two-shot lead over Paul Casey in the opening round of the Tour Championship on Thursday.

He missed last year when he failed to get into the top 30 who qualify for the FedEx Cup finale, and knew he needed only to get back to have a chance.

“I wanted to get out of the blocks quickly, and I surely did,” Stenson said.

Stenson, No. 4 in the FedEx Cup, only has to win this week to claim a $10 million bonus.

Rory McIlroy closed out the front nine with three straight birdies and wound up with a 66, along with British Open champion Zach Johnson. Jordan Spieth had a 68.

Jason Day, in his first tournament as the No. 1 player in the world, stayed with Stenson until one shot. Day birdied his opening three holes, but his drive on the par-4 fifth hole sailed through the trees on the right, over the fence and out of bounds. He made triple bogey and never really got back on track. He shot a 69 and was six behind.

“To make triple was pretty disappointing,” Day said, “but it’s early on in the tournament, so I can’t dwell on that.”

Benjamin Hebert of France and Bernd Wiesberger of Austria shared the lead at 7-underpar after the opening day of the European Open in Griesbach, Germany.

Martin Flores birdied his final hole for a 4-under 67 and a share of the first-round lead with Alex Aragon in the Web.com Tour Finals’ Nationwide Children’s Hospital Championship in Columbus, Ohio.