Henrik Stenson hoping for more of the same

Tour Championship leader Henrik Stenson knows he cannot afford to take his foot off the pedal in his bid to win in Atlanta and claim the FedEx Cup.

Stenson holds a three-stroke lead at the halfway stage of the season-ending tournament after carding a two-under-par 68 on Friday.

The world number six will top the FedEx Cup play-offs ahead of current leader Jason Day as things stand at the East Lake Golf Club, but the Swede is all too aware that there is still a long way to go.

"Hopefully I'll keep on playing well, making putts," Stenson told reporters. "I didn't feel like it was my best day out there today, but I still managed to keep it together and two-under par around here is never a bad thing.

"Conditions were tougher as well. So it was a slightly different golf course playing a lot longer than we normally see it, and I didn't feel like I brought my best striking.

"But as I said, still managed to keep it together, made a couple of nice putts out there and kept the momentum going. So a two-shot lead yesterday and a three-shot lead now after two rounds. So whenever you can maintain it or extend it is always a good thing. I'm just going to try and keep my foot down and hopefully keep on making birdies, because the other guys, they're not going to ease off on me, I don't expect that."

Stenson, who is without a win on the PGA Tour this season, is no stranger when it comes to FedEx Cup success.

The 39-year-old collected the lucrative post-season cheque in 2013 via wins at the Deutsche Bank and Tour Championships.

Stenson added: "I feel like I built up momentum throughout the summer in 2013, and I was close on a couple of occasions, and I wanted to get a win or two and before I knew it, I had the Deutsche Bank and the Tour Championship, the FedEx Cup, and won in Dubai and Race to Dubai.

"So it went from no trophies to five of them in a very short period of time. And it's been similar now. I've been close a couple of times, as you know I was disappointed not to win at the Deutsche Bank, but hopefully I can make it happen this week. And if I don't, then we'll come back and try again.

"You just got to stay patient and keep on doing the right things and sooner or later you will get your reward. So, yeah, I'm hungry for a win and I'm going to try my hardest."