Sizzling round puts Bryant in front

Bart Bryant upstaged the elite field to open a two-stroke lead after the first round of the Tour Championship.

Playing precision golf, Bryant missed just two fairways and two greens in regulation in a bogey-free eight-under-par 62, a course record in benign conditions at East Lake.

He picked up three strokes on his outward nine, before turning on the jets and adding three birdies and an eagle coming home.

Defending champion Retief Goosen made a smooth start with a 64, Kenny Perry shot 65, while Tiger Woods and Sergio Garcia tied for fourth after each signed for a 66.

Woods, who has six victories this season, would become the first man on the tour to win $11m (€9.2m) with victory this week.

Bryant, 42, is a late bloomer who won the prestigious Memorial tournament in June, and arrived here 22nd on the money list.

“I was very pleased with what went on today,” he said. “I hit the ball extremely well. I made a couple of fairly difficult putts but for the most part I had a lot of quality eight-to-10-footers.”

England’s Luke Donald had four birdies and four bogeys in a level-par 70 and is in a tie for 13th, one shot ahead of Ireland’s Padraig Harrington.