Friday Notebook: Rickie Fowler wants the rain to stick around

 

ATLANTA – With the rainy conditions putting East Lake in a bad mood, and perhaps more wet stuff to come, the key to the weekend at the Tour Championship may lie in attitude.

 

Now, while Rickie Fowler has not exactly taken ownership of the tournament – he's 1 under through two rounds, eight back of leader Henrik Stenson – he at least is sounding the right notes in case anyone wants to listen and learn.

 

"Personally I'd rather play in tough conditions where red numbers were a good score. It is fun playing offensive and having to shoot 5, 6, 7 under to try to make up ground. But this place is a good test," he said.

 

We'll see how that feeling holds up over another day of slogging around east Atlanta. The weather forecast is for a better than even chance for more showers Saturday. So put on your mud flaps, gentlemen, and go to work.

 

NEVER SAY DIE DAY: Jason Day is down. Way down. But when you're the world's No. 1 player, hope dies hard.

 

No matter that he is nine back of leader Henrik Stenson at the halfway point, Day said he has a plan for getting back into this thing.

 

"If I can just get it somewhere around 4 under (Saturday), that would be nice. Then get to at least 8 under (Sunday). These holes coming in are pretty tough and certain (big numbers for the leaders) can happen on those holes if you are not quite sharp."

 

Still quite a fanciful scenario.

 

LINKS HIJINKS: Here at the season's conclusion, golfers have too much time on their hands. Witness the parking lot pranks going on at East Lake. First it was Fowler, adding a little graffiti to the sign marking Danny Lee's space. Included was the hashtag #FindDannyAGirl," referencing some comments on his lonely bachelor life Lee made after winning the Greenbrier Classic. Fowler went on to cordon off Lee's spot with traffic cones and tape. On Friday, Lee retaliated by re-purposing the cones and tape, sticking them to various parts of Fowler's courtesy car. Not exactly heat balm in the jock strap, but this is golf, after all. ... Handling the chore of announcing the players as they approached the 18th green Friday was honorary East Lake member Arthur Blank. He likely won't be here Sunday, since he and the Falcons have a date in Texas. ... Charley Hoffman, J.B. Holmes and Brandt Snedeker have all pledged to donate undisclosed differing amounts of money to the East Lake Foundation for each birdie they make at this week's Tour Championship. In addition, Alex and Alexandra Robertson have pledged $1,000 for each birdie made in the 29-player field. Robertson is a board member of the East Lake Foundation and Purpose Built Communities. Last year, there were 385 birdies during the Tour Championship.

 

This article was written by Steve Hummer from The Atlanta Journal-Constitution and was legally licensed through the NewsCred publisher network.