Stenson builds 4-shot lead with 66

ATLANTA – Henrik Stenson broke another club Friday – this time by accident.

And it didn’t matter.

Playing with only 13 clubs in the bag after his 4-wood broke on the practice range, Stenson made three birdies on the opening four holes to shoot a 4-under 66 and build a four-shot lead over Adam Scott after the second round of the Tour Championship.

For all his birdies, the best move he made all week was deciding to put the 4-wood in his locker instead of carrying it with him.

Stenson heard a funny sound after hitting five shots on the range and realized the club’s face had caved in. A television viewer who heard about the incident called the PGA Tour to see if the Swede had kept it in his bag, and officials checked with Stenson after his round.

If he had left it in the bag without using it, Stenson would have been assessed a four-shot penalty – the margin of his lead. If he had used the club, he would have been disqualified.

Stenson was at 10-under 130 going into the third round and might be playing a course far less firm. The forecast is for rain most of day, and the starting times have been moved up to Saturday morning with hopes of getting the round in.

“It might seem like a large lead, but four shots during two rounds is not that much,” he said. “So I’m pretty cool about that. I’m just going to go out and try to do the best I can for the next two days. And hopefully, that’s good enough.”

Tiger Woods is not in position to halt the hottest player in golf. Woods was headed toward the best round of the day, sitting at 5-under through 13 holes, when he made double bogey on the 14th, had a triple bogey on the 17th and wound up with a 71. He was 14 shots behind.

It was the first time since the 2011 PGA Championship that Woods began a tournament with back-to-back rounds over par.

“I put everything I had into that start and didn’t have much at the end,” Woods said.

Scott was one shot behind Stenson at the start of the round, but quickly fell five shots back with a couple of poor tee shots. The Australian played the last 14 holes without a bogey and wound up with a 69 that put him at 6-under 134.

The Masters champion chose to look at a different number – not four shots back, but only a guy ahead of him.

“Henrik is playing fantastic, so he’s got this thing under control at the moment. But not for 36 holes,” Scott said. “I think there’s too many good players here. It’s not just myself or someone at 5 under.

“If it is softer tomorrow because of rain, there could be a lot better scores because it’s playing probably as tricky as it can at the moment.”

Jordan Spieth, the 20-year-old rookie, had a 67 and was five shots behind. U.S. Open champion Justin Rose, Dustin Johnson and Billy Horschel were another shot back.

There’s never a dull moment with Stenson, who only last week made news for all the wrong reasons when he smashed his driver on the final hole of the BMW Championship and tore up his locker at Conway Farms.