ATLANTA (AP) – Adam Scott tried to keep stress out of his round on Friday, and he did that by keeping his ball out of the rough. The result was a 3-under 67 that gave him a share of the lead with Joe Durant in the Tour Championship.

One of eight players in the 27-man field without a PGA Tour victory this year, Scott put himself in position to change that by making only one mistake on another chilly afternoon amid the golden flora of East Lake.

That was a plugged lie in the bunker on No. 10, and he finished with eight straight pars to match Durant (68) at 4-under 136.

Trevor Immelman made six birdies in his round of 66, the low score so far this week, and was in the group at 1-under 139 that included Retief Goosen (71), Stuart Appleby (70) and Brett Quigley (68), who earned the distinction as the only player to get around East Lake without a bogey.

“To not make a bogey out here is unbelievable,” Quigley said.

That starts with keeping the ball in play, and Scott did that better than most.

The statistics will show that he missed only four fairways, but he was in the first cut each time. The rough is not particularly punishing, but deep enough that players have to guess whether they will catch fliers or the ball will come out flat.

“I’m driving the ball well, which I think is really a key around here,” Scott said. “It’s been pretty stress-free for me, which is nice.”

Durant, a late entry to the Tour Championship with his victory at Disney and a tie for fourth last week at Innisbrook, made a downhill birdie putt from 15 feet on the 12th to become the only player to reach 5 under for the tournament. But he missed the next green to take bogey and settled for pars the rest of the way.

With only a breeze in the 58-degree weather, the conditions weren’t quite as difficult.

Even so, only six players broke par in the second round, compared with eight on Thursday.

And halfway through the season-ending tournament, only six players were in red numbers.

Luke Donald made the only eagle this week at the par-5 15th, then followed that by becoming the first player to make birdie on the 16th hole. That carried him to a 67 and put him at even-par 140, along with Jim Furyk (71) and Zach Johnson (69).

Vijay Singh was chasing the leaders until he bogeyed the last two holes for a 72, leaving him at 141 but still only five shots behind. Davis Love III was headed for an amazing turnaround after opening with an 82, but he played his last three holes in 3 over for a 71 and again will have to play by himself on Saturday.

AP-ES-11-03-06 1715EST



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