Bubba Watson charges ahead at Riviera

Click here to read the full article…

ATLANTA — Kyle Stanley and Jordan Spieth are off to strong starts in the Tour Championship with different goals in mind. Stanley ran off four straight birdies on the front nine, and then added two more late in his round on a steamy Thursday afternoon at East Lake for a 6-under 64. He had a two-shot lead. Spieth had a 67, which was just fine with him. No one among the top five seeds in the FedExCup had a lower score, so that kept Spieth on track in his bid to join Tiger Woods as the only two-time winner of the season-long competition and its $10 million bonus. Stanley is the No. 22 seed. He needs to win and have Spieth finish toward the bottom third of the 30-man field to claim the FedExCup.

Click here to read the full article…

The PGA TOUR’s biggest stars are at Atlanta’s East Lake Golf Club for this week’s TOUR Championship, as is one of the NBA’s biggest names. NBA veteran and former collegiate player of the year Blake Griffin is attending the TOUR Championship this week. Griffin, a six-time NBA All-Star, walked with Max Homa and rookie Sahith Theegala during Friday’s second round. “I love the fact that Max during The Open is like, ‘I’m playing with Tiger Woods today.’ He’s having a full freak-out moment that everyone else would but he’s not afraid to say it,” Griffin said. “I respect people that are like that. It’s just real. You’re a real person. He doesn’t take himself too seriously.” The 12-year NBA veteran recently took up the game as a competitive outlet and said he’s become “obsessed,” even building a simulator in his home. The TOUR Championship was the first golf tournament he attended, calling it “unlike anything I’ve ever experienced.” “I can’t stop,” he said. “I put a simulator in my house. If I have 30 free minutes, I’m down in my simulator and I’m working on stuff. I don’t know what I’m doing but I’m working on it. “I knew that when I retired from basketball, … I needed a competitive outlet or I’ll be like a psychopath,” he added. “I started playing and I was awful. I’m still awful but a better awful. “You want the challenge. … You want it to be hard. This is such a different sport. It’s so mentally tough, that’s why I love it. If golf was easy, nobody would play.”

Click here to read the full article…