Jordan Spieth moves into second at PGA’s Tour Championship

Two years after Henrik Stenson sailed to victory at the Tour Championship, he has another comfortable lead after 36 holes at East Lake and Jordan Spieth is chasing him.

Back then, Spieth was a 20-year-old rookie.

Now he’s the Masters and U.S. Open champion, and he found a spark in a steady drizzle Friday in Atlanta.

Stenson overcame a few mistakes off the tee and was solid on the back nine for a two-under-par 68, stretching his lead to three shots over Spieth going into the weekend and moving closer to his first win of the year -- and a $10 million bonus for claiming the FedEx Cup.

“I didn’t feel like it was my best day, but I managed to keep it together and 2 under around here is never bad,” Stenson said.

He doesn’t know anything different. This was his sixth straight round under par at East Lake, a course where the Swede has led after every round he has played.

Stenson, who had wire-to-wire win in the Tour Championship in 2013, was at nine-under 131.

Spieth has made only one bogey over two rounds, and a pair of par saves on consecutive holes on the front nine felt just as valuable as his four birdies in a round of 66. The average score was 71.6 on a wet day that yielded only four rounds under par.

Spieth went from the right rough to the left rough on No. 5 and still had 60 yards left and a tree in front of him. He took a risk going through the tree to within six feet for par, and then rolled in a 20-foot par putt for a bunker save on the par-three sixth.

“It was huge,” Spieth said about the par saves. “I thought I may have to re-tee, and I was just kind of all over the place at that time. And that third shot I hit on 5, I mean, one of 10, maybe. There was no other option, but it wasn’t necessarily smart. And I had to have the wind blowing this branch back and forth, I had to hit it when it blew it this way or else it would have gone up into it.”

He closed with a 20-foot birdie putt on the par-3 18th to get into the final group.

Paul Casey made bogey from the bunker on the 18th for a 70 and was four shots behind, while British Open champion Zach Johnson birdied three of his last four holes to overcome a double bogey on the par-5 ninth. He had a 70 and was at four-under 136.

Jason Day, in his first event as No. 1 in the world, finally looked human. He felt flat, wasn’t sharp off the tee or into the greens, and shot a 71. It was his third round over par in his last 10 tournaments, and it left him nine shots behind.

Stenson was four shots clear of Adam Scott after 36 holes when he won the Tour Championship two years ago, with Spieth another shot behind. Spieth made a late run on Sunday and tied for second, capping off a remarkable rookie season.

He is looked at differently now — the Masters and U.S. Open champion and looking more certain to be voted PGA Tour player of the year.

“He’s one of the best players in the world as we know, and had a fantastic year behind him,” Stenson said. “So he’s going to be a very tough contender throughout these last two days. He was good already back then, but he’s certainly not any less good now. We know that much. Once again, I’ve got to focus on my game and bring my game and keep my head down and foot down and press on if I want to leave the guys behind me.”

The biggest challenge figures to be East Lake, especially with more wet conditions in the forecast.

Storm takes lead at European Open

Graeme Storm of England holed out for eagle on the back nine for a share of the lead at the halfway stage of the European Open at Bad Griesbach, Germany.

Storm also had three birdies and a bogey for a round of 67, joining compatriot Ross Fisher and South Africa’s Charl Schwartzel at 10-under after the second day.

Fisher had seven birdies and a bogey for a 65, while Schwartzel had five birdies in a 66.

An Byeong-hun of South Korea and Richard McEvoy of England were tied for fourth at nine-under, ahead of South Africa’s Darren Fichardt and Sweden’s Johan Edfors on eight-under. Germany’s Maximilian Kieffer shot a second successive 68 for his 22nd cut in a row and veteran Bernhard Langer added a 71 to his first round of 68.

Parnevik finishes strong to lead First Tee Open

Jesper Parnevik birdied three of his last four holes on the par-71 Poppy Hills course for a share of the first-round lead with Tom Byrum at five-under 66 in the Champions Tour’s First Tee Open at Pebble Beach.

Byrum was at five-under 67 on the par-72 Pebble beach course.

Using a new putter and new putting style, Parnevik had six birdies and one bogey. The 50-year-old Swede is winless in 12 starts on the 50-and-over tour after winning five times on the PGA Tour.