Veteran Henrik Stenson of Sweden outplayed the young guns, shooting 7-under-par 63 to grab a two-stroke lead over Paul Casey of England after one round of the Tour Championship at East Lake Golf Club in Atlanta.
The 39-year-old Stenson, who is fourth in the FedEx Cup standings and can take the prize with a victory, was 8-under through 12 holes with the help of a 24-foot eagle putt on the ninth hole and made his only bogey at No. 17.
“(East Lake) sets up really well for me,” said Stenson, who captured the Tour Championship and the FedEx Cup in 2013. “Accuracy is such a key and I can hit a lot of 3-woods off the tee.
“I also hit some good iron shots and rolled in some nice putts. The greens are really pure, but they are slick too. I gave myself as many chances as I could and despite that bogey, I’m very pleased. That’s a good score around here.”
Casey, whose only PGA Tour victory came in the 2009 Shell Houston Open, birdied two of the last four holes in his 65, while Zach Johnson, who won the Open Championship at St. Andrews, posted the only bogey-free round at 66 to tie for third with second-ranked Rory McIlroy of Northern Ireland.
Third-ranked Jordan Spieth, who is second in the FedEx Cup standings, posted a 68 to tie for fifth with 2012 FedEx Cup champion Brandt Snedeker, Kevin Na of Diamond Bar, Books Koepka, Steven Bowditch of Australia and J.B. Holmes.
Jason Day of Australia, the FedEx Cup points leader playing his first event as the No. 1 player in the World Golf Rankings, carded a 69 that included a triple-bogey 7 on the fifth hole and was tied for 11th with Rickie Fowler of Murrieta, Dustin Johnson, Danny Lee of New Zealand, Hideki Matsuyama of Japan and rookie Daniel Berger.
Bubba Watson and Justin Rose of England were tied for 17th at 70.
Louis Oosthuizen of South Africa withdrew after 13 holes because of a strained right hamstring. He also was hurting after having a ganglion cyst on his right wrist drained.
Jim Furyk withdrew on Tuesday because of a strained left wrist. Furyk is scheduled to play for the United States and Oosthuizen for the International team at the Presidents Cup in two weeks in South Korea.
