GOLF Stenson up 3 on Spieth
Two years after Henrik Stenson sailed to victory at the Tour Championship, he has another lead after 36 holes at Atlanta’s East Lake and Jordan Spieth is chasing him.
Back then, Spieth was a 20year-old rookie. Now he’s the Masters and U.S. Open champion, and he found a spark in a steady drizzle Friday.
Stenson overcame a few mistakes off the tee and was solid on the back nine for a 2-under-par 68, stretching his lead to three shots over Spieth and moving closer to his first win of the year — and a $10 million bonus for claiming the FedEx Cup.
“I didn’t feel like it was my best day, but I managed to keep it together and 2-under around here is never bad,” Stenson said.
Stenson, who went wire-to-wire in the Tour Championship at East Lake in 2013, was at 9-under 131.
Spieth has made only one bogey over two rounds, and par saves on consecutive holes on the front nine felt just as valuable as his four birdies in a round of 66.
“It was huge. I thought I may have to re-tee, and I was just kind of all over the place at that time,” Spieth said. “And that third shot I hit on 5 ... There was no other option, but it wasn’t necessarily smart. And I had to have the wind blowing this branch back and forth, I had to hit it when it blew it this way or else it would have gone up into
it.”
Top-ranked Jason Day shot 71 and trails by nine shots.
Champions Tour: Jesper Parnevik birdied three of his last four holes at Poppy Hills for a share of the lead with Tom Byrum in the First Tee Open in Pebble Beach.
Parnevik closed with a 5-foot birdie putt on the par-4 ninth for a 5-under 66. Byrum finished 61⁄2 hours earlier, holing a 15-foot birdie putt on the par-5 18th at Pebble Beach for a 5under 67.
Other events: Graeme Storm holed out for eagle on the back nine for a share of the lead halfway through the European Tour’s European Open in Bad Griesbach, Germany. Storm (67) was joined by Ross Fisher and Charl Schwartzel at 10-under 132. ... Martin Flores shot a 1under 70 to take a one-stroke lead over four players after two rounds of the Web.com Tour Finals’ Nationwide Children’s Hospital Championship in Columbus, Ohio. Flores is at 5-under 137.