Jason Day surprisingly stumbled after beginning his reign as world number one in brilliant fashion in pursuit of a fifth win in his last seven events in the Tour Championship in Atlanta.
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Day overtook Rory McIlroy at the top of the rankings after winning the BMW Championship on Sunday, his second victory in three FedEx Cup play-off tournaments and fifth of the year.
The 27-year-old was 101 under par for his last seven events, including a major championship record of 20 under in winning the US PGA Championship at Whistling Straits.
And the Australian looked to have carried on exactly where he left off on Thursday, carding birdies on the first three holes at East Lake before slicing his drive on the fifth out of bounds to run up a triple-bogey seven.
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.
Playing alongside Day, Masters and US Open champion Spieth was one under par after a birdie on the second, with McIlroy one stroke better off after recovering from an early bogey with a hat-trick of birdies from the seventh.
McIlroy admitted on Wednesday that the bonus money “luckily, doesn’t sort of mean much to me anymore” but insisted he was determined to add the FedEx Cup title to his CV after finishing second to Billy Horschel 12 months ago.
Day was lucky not to find the water with another errant tee shot on the par-three sixth, but after saving par there he birdied the eighth and reached the turn in one under par.
However, that was six shots behind new leader Stenson, who had smashed two fairway woods onto the 600-yard, par-five ninth and holed from 25 feet for eagle to be out in 29.
This might not surprise you that much, but Jason Day birdied No. 1. #QuickHits http://t.co/ipw3cLzmDi
— PGA TOUR (@PGATOUR) September 24, 2015
Stenson then holed from eight feet on the 10th to move to seven under par after just 10 holes, two shots clear of England’s Paul Casey, who had set the early clubhouse target after six birdies and one bogey in a 65.
Casey, who has not played in the Tour Championship since 2010 after suffering from injuries and a loss of form, told media: “It’s great to be back. I have been through a lot since then so it’s wonderful to be among the top 30 with a chance of winning the FedEx Cup.
“It’s a course I really like, very classic. It sets up very well for my game; you have to put yourself in good position off the tee, a high ball flight helps and these greens are as quick as Augusta, and that’s what I like.”
Stenson missed from seven feet for birdie on the 11th but made no such mistake from a similar distance on the next and, at eight under par after 12, needed to play the final six holes in three under to shoot the seventh 59 in PGA Tour history.
