Sizzling Stenson one ahead, Woods struggles to 73

ATLANTA,  (Reuters) – In-form Swede Henrik Stenson, boosted by a red-hot front nine, totally upstaged his playing partner Tiger Woods as he surged into a one-shot lead in yesterday’s opening round of the elite Tour Championship. In glorious sunshine with barely a breath of wind at East Lake Golf Club in the PGA Tour’s season finale, Stenson piled up five birdies in six holes with a superb exhibition of pinpoint approach play on the way to a six-under-par 64. Though he dropped his only shot of the day at the par-four 16th, where he found a poor lie in the right rough off the tee and missed the green with his approach, he signed off in style with a four-foot birdie putt at the last.

“When it’s your day, you’re hitting good shots and getting them as close as I got them,” Stenson, ranked second in the FedExCup standings, said after mixing seven birdies with a lone bogey on the long, challenging East Lake layout.