Swede Stenson began the drizzly day with a three-shot lead over Spieth, but his mastery of the venerable course waned in the soggy conditions as he posted four bogeys and two birdies for 72 and a 203 aggregate. He was three shots behind. Casey is unlikely to win the FedEx Cup and might have the least amount of pressure on him.
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Rory McIlroy (70) and Zach Johnson (71) and five back. Those issues bobbed around once more when Henrik Stenson shot to the top of the Tour Championship leaderboard and Jason Day sank.
It would likely move him back into the No. 1 position atop the world ranking. He was nine shots behind. Stenson, who went wire-to-wire in the Tour Championship in 2013, was at 9-under 131.
Is this a repeat?
A light, steady rain made the course so long that Stenson had to hit fairway metal twice into par 4s, and he couldn’t reach one of them.
Jordan Spieth feels like he is competing at a major championship after taking the lead at the Tour Championship.
Paul Casey hits from the second tee during the third round of the…
Spieth showed throughout the season that he embraces the challenge on the sport’s biggest stages. There is so much money being thrown around here this week that no one player could possibly catch it all.
Although the 22-year-old seemed to have locked up the Jack Nicklaus Award with his performance in this year’s majors, a run that included victories at the Masters and U.S. Open along with a runner-up showing at the PGA Championship and a spot just outside the playoff at St. Andrews, Day’s torrid run through the playoffs caused some voters, the players, to reconsider their options. “So he’s going to be a very tough contender throughout these last two days”. We know that much. “But I’ve got my own competition I’m playing and I’d love to stir the pot by getting up there and winning it”.
The beatings became so bad that finally, all Spieth could do was laugh.
Stenson occupied the driver’s seat at East Lake as the initial 30-man field for the elite tournament shrank to 28 after 2010 British Open victor Louis Oosthuizen of South Africa withdrew after 13 holes due to a hamstring injury.
Stenson started his round with a bogey on the first hole, but he quickly got it back at No. 3 by making an eight-footer for birdie, and turned in even-par 35. But he has only one bogey through 36 holes. “So I don’t need tomorrow to justify it”, he said, referring to his player-of-the-year-worthy season, “but it would be something that I’m not going to sit here and say $10 million doesn’t mean anything to me”.
In simplest and often repeated terms, Spieth and Stenson – who will head out again on Sunday paired together – control their own as well as the FedEx Cup destiny at Nos.
He rolled in a 26-foot effort on the seventh for his first birdie and then followed it up with a 21-footer on the ninth to go to the turn at level par. He was at even-par 140, nine shots behind. He was eight back.
Olin Browne was second after a 65 at Poppy Hills, and Esteban Toledo was third at 6 under after a 66 at Pebble Beach.
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Another one of five players who will win the cash if he wins in Atlanta.
