Kyle Stanley leads as Paul Casey impresses at Tour Championship

By Ali Stafford

Skysports.com

 
 

Kyle Stanley looks back at the highlights from his opening-round 64 at the Tour Championship.

Kyle Stanley fired a six-under 64 to grab a two-shot lead after the opening round of the Tour Championship at Atlanta, Georgia

Stanley mixed seven birdies with a sole blemish at East Lake to claim the early advantage, with Paul Casey and US Open champion Brooks Koepka part of the group challenging on four under.

FedExCup leader Jordan Spieth lies three off the pace alongside PGA champion Justin Thomas and Jon Rahm, as world No 1 Dustin Johnson posted a two-under 68.

Tour Championship,Today, 17:00pm

Tour Championship Outright - Paying 6 Places

PRICE BOOST

Rahm or Rose to win the Tour Championship

PRICE BOOST

WAS6/1

NOW7/1

£10 Free Bet, No Deposit Needed

Thomas heads in to the week second in the FedExCup standings

The current top five in the FedExCup standings are guaranteed the PGA Tour's $10million jackpot by winning in Atlanta, while all 30 players in the field still have a mathematical chance of winning the big-money prize.

Stanley, one of the early starters, nudged in to birdie the third and drained a 35-footer at the fourth before picking up shots over the next two holes to briefly move three clear.

Spieth can become only the second player in history to win the FedExCup title twice

The American, 22nd in the FedExCup standings, failed to get up-and-down to save par from a greenside bunker at the eighth but bounced back to roll in a 15-foot birdie at the 12th.

Back-to-back birdies from the 15th helped Stanley close out a blemish-free back nine and set the clubhouse target, with Daniel Berger and Webb Simpson completing the four-way tie for second.

Simpson birdied three of his final six holes to get to four under and Casey closed with back-to-back gains, as Koepka made a blemish-start to the week and Berger eagled the last.

Russell Henley recovered from three bogeys in his first seven holes to shoot an opening 67, as Thomas combined six birdies with three bogeys to also get to three under.

Former world No 1 Jason Day found water on his way to a final-hole bogey to slip five off the pace, with last week's BMW Championship winner Marc Leishman stuttering to a one-over 71.

Watch the Tour Championship throughout the week live on Sky Sports Golf. Live coverage continues on Friday from 6.30pm

Tour Championship Leaderboard
Atlanta, Georgia
players from USA unless stated otherwise

64 K Stanley
66 W Simpson, D Berger, B Koepka, P Casey (England)
67 R Henlry, G Woodland, J Rahm (Spain), J Spieth, J Thomas
68 J Dufner, T Finau, K Kisner, P Perez, J Rose (England), D Johnson.
SELECTED SCORES
69 J Day (Australia), M Kuchar, P Reed (T17)
73 S Garcia (Spain), R Fowler (T25)

TO VIEW THE COMPLETE SCOREBOARD AND CHECK
THE SCORECARDS

CLICK HERE