Adam Scott vaults into the lead at Tour Championship

Reporting from Atlanta -- After three bogeys in his first six holes Friday, Adam Scott faced a personal moment of truth.

Either the Aussie was going to reverse the slide, or he was going to let a second consecutive week slip away and reach the FedEx Cup season’s finish line with a sense of underachieving.

Scott willed himself to the first option. By the end of the day, he walked away with the Tour Championship lead.

A birdie-birdie finish completed a five-under-par 65 that vaulted Scott past K.J. Choi to the front of the pack, taking a one-stroke lead at the midway point of the FedEx Cup finale.

“There was some sloppy stuff early on, but [I] managed to put it all back together,” said Scott, who used four consecutive birdies at the turn to break his early slump. Friday’s 65 matched his best round in six visits to East Lake Golf Club.

Scott completed two rounds in eight-under 132, moving past Choi (65) with a 10-foot birdie at No.18. Jason Day (67) and world No.1 Luke Donald (68) were another shot back in a tie for third.

After coming to East Lake ranked 19th in the FedEx points race, Scott now projects to No.1 with the struggles of points leaders Webb Simpson, Dustin Johnson and Justin Rose.

Simpson, the leader after two wins and two other top-10s in his last four events, found himself tied for 19th at East Lake after Friday’s 70. No. 2 Johnson and No. 3 Rose were faring even worse — both among the week’s bottom five.

Though two rounds remain, the door is open for someone to snatch the $10-million bonus that goes to the season champion.

“It’s really too early to predict,” said Choi, the Players Championship titleholder. “We still have two days left, and I don’t really think about the money [yet]. You never know what can happen in the next two days.”

Said Scott: “I just figured that if I win this week, I’ll be happy no matter what. I’ll finish what I think has been a really good season.”

The 31-year-old Aussie wasn’t exactly thrilled with himself six holes into his round. Three bogeys had dropped him five shots off the pace, and he was having flashbacks to a similar skid at last week’s BMW Championship, where he finished 37th.

“I was pretty annoyed at myself,” Scott said of his start, “but I’m playing too good to let myself slip away at the moment.”

After hitting the fairway with his drive at No. 7, Scott gave himself a little gut check.

“I just said to myself, ‘This is the time where you just take dead aim and you stand up and hit a golf shot,’” he said. “The way I’m playing, I should be able to do that.”

Scott stuck his approach within seven feet and drained the birdie putt. It wound up kick-starting a run of four consecutive birdies, followed by another at No.12 that earned him a share of the lead at six under.

The birdie-birdie finish capped things off — the second straight day Scott has birdied each of the final two holes. “I’d like that trend to continue,” he said.

jshain@tribune.com