Atlanta — Tiger Woods, who didn’t have the best day on the greens, wound up in the Tour Championship lead Friday at East Lake with a 2-under 68, one shot ahead of Padraig Harrington and Sean O’Hair.

Woods might have an even stronger grip on the FedEx Cup and its $10 million bonus.

He was fuming over several missed putts. He found perspective shortly after signing for his seventh consecutive round in the 60s.

“The day as a whole was a good day,” Woods said. “I shot under par, and I got myself … in the lead.”

Not so surprising was Woods in the lead, his 16th time this year to end a round atop the leaderboard. He was at 5-under 135 and in great position for the FedEx Cup. None of the other top five seeds, who can win the $10 million bonus with a victory at East Lake, were among the top 10 on the leaderboard going into the weekend.

Ernie Els came to life with five birdies over his last 10 holes for a 66 and was only two shots behind at 3-under 137. Kenny Perry, who nearly wilted in the heat Thursday, also had a 66 and was at 2-under 138, along with Jerry Kelly (67).

Masters champion Angel Cabrera (67), U.S. Open champion Lucas Glover (71) and British Open champion Stewart Cink (72) were in the group at 1-under 139.

The FedEx Cup is still a possibility for the likes of Harrington and O’Hair, both of whom are more concerned now with the crystal trophy and mere $1.35 million from winning the Tour Championship.

“If I win this golf tournament and Tiger finishes second … I’m going to be throwing a big party and jumping with joy,” O’Hair said. “If I don’t win the 10 million bucks, I should have played better. I’ve got to win this golf tournament to win the $10 million. If I do my job, that’s all I can do.”

Golf

Watson, Cochran tied

Cary, N.C. — Russ Cochran and Denis Watson shared the first round lead at 6-under 66 on a windy and drizzling Friday at the SAS Championship. Joey Sindelar, Larry Mize, R.W. Eaks, Dan Forsman, Jim Thorpe and Tom Pernice Jr. were tied one stroke back.

Britain, Ireland lead pack

Saint-Nom-La-Breteche, France — Simon Dyson and Oliver Wilson beat Henrik Stenson and Alavaro Quiros 2 and 1 in fourball play to help Britain and Ireland take a 6-4 lead after two days in the Vivendi Trophy matches against Europe.

Gustafson in first place

Danville, Calif. — Sophie Gustafson shot a 3-under 69 to take a one-stroke lead over Lorena Ochoa, Maria Hjorth and Shanshan Feng in the CVS/pharmacy LPGA Challenge.

College basketball

Pearl sorry for remark

Knoxville, Tenn. — Tennessee coach Bruce Pearl apologized for a joking remark that linked the rural home of one his players to the Ku Klux Klan.

The Volunteers’ coach was caught on camera Thursday by WBIR-TV during a charity fundraising event describing the challenge of shaping a team of players from different backgrounds.

“I’ve got a tough job,” the Boston native said. “I’ve got to put these guys from different worlds together, right? I’ve got guys from Chicago, Detroit. I’m talking about the ‘hood! And I’ve got guys from Grainger County, where they wear the hood!”

The audience laughed loudly, but after WBIR-TV aired the remarks the coach issued an apology.

“I made the statement in jest to describe the diverse group our staff recruits year-in and year-out,” Pearl said. “Unfortunately while I was trying to excite the crowd and encourage employees to give, I made an inappropriate joke.”

He said he “certainly did not intend to offend anyone and I apologize to everyone, especially the people of Grainger County,” the northeast Tennessee county that’s home to freshman Skylar McBee.

Binghamton boots five

Binghamton, N.Y. — Binghamton released five more basketball players on Friday, a day after standout Emanuel “Tiki” Mayben was arraigned on cocaine distribution charges and kicked off the team. Coach Kevin Broadus announced that D.J. Rivera, Malik Alvin, Corey Chandler, Paul Crosby and David Fine were released.

Hartrick said the five were released because “they are not toeing the line.”

NBA

Rose said he took SAT

Deerfield, Ill. — Chicago Bulls point guard Derrick Rose reiterated Friday that he took the SAT exam to get into Memphis and dismissed the idea that someone did so in his place.

“I took it, I took it,” Rose said Friday.

Rose found himself at the center of a scandal over the summer when the NCAA ruled that Memphis must vacate its 38 wins during the 2007-08 season for using an ineligible player.

The NCAA said an unknown person took the SAT for a player — with his knowledge — and that the player used it to get admitted. The governing body said the athlete played for the Tigers only during the 2007-08 season and the 2008 NCAA Tournament. Rose is the only person who fits that description, but he insisted no one took the test for him.

“That’s for sure,” he said.

NFL

McNabb doubtful for K.C.

Philadelphia — Quarterback Donovan McNabb is doubtful to play Sunday when the Philadelphia Eagles host Kansas City because of a broken rib. Kevin Kolb will make his second straight start if McNabb can’t go. No matter who’s under center, Michael Vick will play his first regular-season game in 33 months.

“We put some things in for him,” coach Andy Reid said Friday. “He will be up and we’ll go from there.”

Vick is expected to run Philadelphia’s version of the wildcat offense. He might take a few snaps at quarterback and line up as a receiver or running back.

Raiders won’t ban Gannon

Alameda, Calif. — The Oakland Raiders backed off a demand made to CBS that quarterback-turned-announcer Rich Gannon be banned from the team’s facility for production meetings before Sunday’s broadcast.

The Raiders initially told the network that Gannon was not welcome at production meetings for Sunday’s game against Denver because of constant criticism of the organization in recent years.

The organization said “because of league rules, we have relented.”

Gannon was the NFL’s MVP in 2002 for the Raiders, leading them to the Super Bowl. He threw five interceptions in a 48-21 loss to Tampa Bay.