Rory McIlroy in contention at the Tour Championship

Here he comes again.

Fortunately for the PGA Tour, and those who care about golf, there’s material to cover and resumes to parse.

Stenson may eradicate this anomaly, too.

He made boring old pars at five of his next holes and mixed in a bogey to shoot a measly 63 in his first round in the final tournament of the season.

Almost all of his birdies on Thursday were putts within 10 feet.

Former Open champion Louis Oosthuizen withdrew after 13 holes with a hamstring injury, reducing the field to 28 after Jim Furyk was forced to miss out due to a wrist problem. He’s the best player in the world right now. He was two shots clear of Paul Casey. More specifically, he dominated his 27 competitors, including Spieth, McIlroy and Day, all with at least two victories this season to Stenson’s zero. Stenson said earlier this week, in an perceived facetious manner.

“It was great”, the 39-year-old told Sky Sports 4. “So it shouldn’t be that hard”.

Jason Day had a 69 in his first event as No. 1 in the world and was six shots behind.

An ugly, unusual turn transpired at the fifth when Day flared his tee shot out of bounds to the right, leading to a triple-bogey seven. Stenson is at No. 4, so the math is quite simple.

“Ball striking was really good today”, Casey said. Day is top of the FedEx Cup standings and, along with Jordan Spieth, Rickie Fowler, Henrik Stenson and Bubba Watson, would secure the overall title and USD10million bonus with victory on Sunday.

Stenson knows what he faces. Playing the course appears to be the easy part. He’s overdue to win this year. Thursday, he didn’t pull the club from the bag. He just didn’t hit it close enough for birdie chances, made three of them and shot a 68 to join a large group that included Brooks Koepka and Brandt Snedeker. “Off the fairways and around the greens”. So I’ve been hitting 3-woods and 4-woods off the tee. “At this time, I’m just trying to win this TOUR Championship for the second time, but it’s still a long ways to go”.

McIlroy admitted Day’s blitz, where he has won four times in his past six starts, was not a complete surprise. If he’d eagled the par-5 15th, he said, he might have, but those last three finishing holes aren’t birdie holes. “It’s frustrating. When I say it’s frustrating, I’m frustrated in my own game and the fact that I didn’t have the patience needed in order to make more birdies and get further under par”. “So I don’t feel a day over 38”. “I shot 65 and he shot (70), and he gets a check for $10 million…no, I’m just kidding”.

“I had a joke with Jason yesterday. I can’t think about it. It’s done”.

A Texas high-school football coach accused of ordering players to knock down a referee who allegedly hurled racial insults at the team has resigned, and state officials warned that punishments to others may be coming.