David Toms said a bad first round helped him post Friday’s second-best round, a 5-under 65 at the Tour Championship at East Lake Golf Club. He’s at 2 under for the tournament after birdieing Nos. 3, 7, 9, 10, and 12. The round was equaled by Adam Scott and K.J. Choi, and bested by Bubba Watson’s 6 under.
“I’m not close enough really to the FedEx Cup to have a chance to win, especially after yesterday, and so I just wanted to go out and enjoy the rest of the week and not put so much pressure on myself,” Toms said.
He said being assured a spot on the President’s Cup team, instead of perhaps needing a good performance this week to secure his place, also helped.
“I probably would have put a little bit more pressure on myself to perform here in hopes of a pick, but I’ve got that behind me,” he said.
Brandt Snedeker and Bill Haas helped their candidacies for the last spot on the team with strong play Friday. Haas shot a 3 under to move to 5 under, three shots behind leader Scott. Snedeker shot 1 under and is 3 under for the tournament. Captain Fred Couples will announce the last pick Tuesday. He has already selected Tiger Woods with one of his two captain’s picks.
The U.S. team will take on the International team in Australia in November.
Mickelson’s putter
Much was made of Phil Mickelson’s decision to switch to a belly putter a few weeks ago.
After his first two rounds of the Tour Championship, he may switch back to the traditional putter he has used throughout his career.
Mickelson is tied for second in the 30-man field in greens in regulation (29-of-36), which means he’s giving himself a good chance to score. However, he’s tied for 26th in putting, which means he’s not taking advantage of those chances. He needed 32 putts Friday after hitting 31 on Thursday. He two-putted 14 greens Friday, including every hole on the first nine.
Mickelson is 2 under after shooting an even-par 70 on Friday. He trails Scott by six strokes.
Spraying the paint
Golf and art are mixing at the Tour Championship, just near the driving range at East Lake.
Graffiti artist and Atlanta native Mister Totem is doing portraits of the golfers competing in the FedEx Cup playoffs. Totem’s medium is spray paint, which brings an odd mix of the streets with the sophisticated image of golf.
Commissioned by the event’s hosts, Totem finished a portrait of points leader Webb Simpson on Thursday and was working on one of first-round leader Keegan Bradley on Friday. The paintings will be given to St. Jude Children’s Hospital, where he said they will be auctioned off.
Totem grew up near Buford Highway, where he saw others expressing themselves with graffiti. He began doing it and said he soon realized that he had a natural talent.
“Graffiti saved me,” he said.
East Lake in spotlight
NBC will air a two-part feature on the revitalization of the East Lake neighborhood, once one of the poorer areas of Atlanta, during its weekend telecast. The segment, produced and reported by Golf Channel, will appear during “Golf Central Pre Game,” which will air at 1:30 p.m. Saturday and at 1 p.m. Sunday.
“East Lake proves that we can give kids a real chance at a better life,” Golf Channel President Mike McCarley said. “It’s an amazing story that needs to be told.”
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