STANLEY SETS EARLY PACE
American shoots 64 for Tour Championship lead as big guns lurk
KYLE Stanley got off to a hot start and outshone the big guns to lead after the opening round of the Tour Championship on Thursday but Jordan Spieth and Justin Thomas are poised to strike.
Stanley shot a six-under 64 to take the first-round lead at East Lake Golf Club and put himself in contention to win the PGA Tour’s four tournament playoff series.
American Stanley holds a two-shot lead over four players who shot 66, comprising US Open champion Brooks Koepka, Webb Simpson, England’s Paul Casey and Daniel Berger.
World No 2 Spieth and PGA champion Thomas are tied for sixth with 67s along with Spain’s Jon Rahm, Russell Henley and Gary Woodland.
Dustin Johnson, Jason Dufner, Tony Finau, Kevin Kisner, Pat Perez and Justin Rose were tied for 11th at 68.
Stanley is playing in the Tour Championship for the first time and was seeded No 22 in the 30-man field. He charged out of the gate with four straight birdies starting at No 3 and made the turn in 32.
He had three birdies on the back nine for another 32. His only mishap came on the eighth hole where he posted a bogey.
“Today it was nice to get off to a pretty fast start, making four birdies in a row, and was able to make a few on the back nine,” Stanley said.
“Just tried to not complicate things, keep the ball in front of me and maybe make a few putts.”
For Stanley to win the FedEx Cup playoffs and the US$10 million (RM42 million) bonus, he must win the Tour Championship and have many other dominos fall into place.
There’s no guesswork involved with Spieth, the No 1 seed. If he wins the tournament, he wins the FedEx Cup, something he did in 2015. He would join Tiger Woods as the only two-time winner.
Spieth entered the tournament in first place in the FedEx Cup standings.
“I get done and look back and I’m surprised we’re at three under,” Spieth said. “Things were off at different times and things were certainly on at different times that pieced this round together and kind of helped what was an interesting day to be still in this golf tournament.”