Reed takes the lead as the real US Open gets started
MAMARONECK, N.Y. – This was the Winged Foot everyone has heard about. This is the U.S. Open everyone expected.
Patrick Reed answered the first big test Friday when the wind arrived out of the north, bringing a little chill and a lot of trouble. He never got flustered by bogeys and made enough birdie putts and key saves for an even-par 70.
It felt just as rewarding as the 66 he shot in the opening round, and it gave him a one-shot lead over muscleman Bryson DeChambeau, who powered and putted his way to a 68.
The opening round featured soft greens, a few accessible pins and 21 rounds under par. Friday was the epitome of a major long known as the toughest test in golf.
Three players broke par. Nine others shot even par. Everyone else was hanging on for dear life. As the final groups tried to beat darkness in this September U.S. Open, only six players remained in red numbers.
“It’s almost like they set it up to ease our way into it, and then showed us what it’s supposed to really be like,” Reed said.
Television showed his five birdies. What took him to the 36-hole lead at 4-under 136 was a collection of pars from bunkers and from thick grass just over the greens. He managed them all with grit, a common trait among U.S. Open champions.
DeChambeau showed plenty of resiliency, too, bouncing back with birdies after all five of his bogeys and finishing the best round of the day with a pitching wedge on the downwind, 557-yard, par-5 ninth to 6 feet for eagle.
Rafa Cabrera-Bello of Spain and Harris English each had a 70 and were at 2-under 138.
They were joined by Justin Thomas, who opened with a 65 – the lowest ever at Winged Foot for a U.S. Open – and lost all those shots to par after 10 holes. Thomas then delivered a 5-wood from 228 yards into the wind on the par-3 third hole and made a slick, 15-foot, double-breaking birdie putt to steady himself. He scratched out a 73 and is right in it.
Jason Kokrak (71) was the only other player under par at 1-under 139.
Taylor Pendrith (74) of Richmond Hill, Ont., and Adam Hadwin (73) of Abbotsford, B.C., were tied for 33rd at 5 over par. Corey Conners of Listowel, Ont., and Mackenzie Hughes of Dundas, Ont., missed the cut.
“This isn’t exactly a place where you go out and try to shoot 6 or 7 under to catch up,” Thomas said. “I’m not going to worry about what everyone else is doing because you could shoot 80 just as easily as you could shoot 68. I just need to stay focused, and most importantly, go home and get some rest. Because I’m pretty tired.”
There’s still 36 holes to go, and no indication that Winged Foot is going to get any easier.
“The rough is still really thick. I don’t think they’re planning on cutting it,” Matthew Wolff said after salvaging a 74 that left him four shots behind. “The greens are only going to get firmer, and the scores are only going to get higher.”
Tiger Woods is among those who won’t be around to experience it. He had a pair of double bogeys at the end of the back nine, and two birdies over his last three holes gave him a 77. He missed the cut by four shots, the eighth time in his last 15 majors he won’t be around for the weekend.
“It feels like the way the golf course is changing, is turning, that anybody who makes the cut has the opportunity to win this championship,” Woods said. “I didn’t get myself that opportunity.”
Neither did Phil Mickelson, who had his highest 36-hole score in 29 appearances in the one major he hasn’t won. Ditto for Jordan Spieth, whose 81 was his highest score in a major. PGA champion Collin Morikawa missed an 8-foot birdie putt on the final hole that cost him a chance to keep playing.
Reed turned in a workman-like performance, making birdies when he had the chance, saving par when needed. This is the kind of golf he loves. It’s a grind. And it’s about feel. He was most pleased with his birdie on No. 1 after he made the turn, going with a chip 8-iron from 147 yards into the wind and riding the slope at the back of the green to tap-in range.
“I love when it’s hard, when you have to be creative on all different golf shots,” he said.
There were plenty of great rounds on such a demanding course, many of which fell apart at the end. Louis Oosthuizen was 3 under in the morning when he finished bogey-bogey-double bogey for a 74. Xander Schauffele was 3 under until he bogeyed three of his last five holes.
“The wind can make a par-3 course difficult, so put that on a U.S. Open setup, it’s going to be even more so,” Schauffele said. “It’ll be a fun afternoon to watch on TV.”
Rory McIlroy’s problems started early. He was 5 over through seven holes, including a birdie at the start, and shot 76 to fall seven shots behind. Dustin Johnson was bogey-free through 16 holes until a pair of bad tee shots led to bogey. He had a 70 and was in the group at 3-over 143.
All of them still feel as though the U.S. Open is in sight.
“I’m confident now, after seeing what was out there this afternoon, over par will win this tournament,” Adam Scott said a 74 left him nine shots back. “The greens finally dried out. If there’s any breeze, over par is winning.”
It usually does at Winged Foot.
Thomas takes US Open lead with 65 on soft, kind Winged Foot
MAMARONECK, N.Y. – All that hype over how tough the U.S. Open can be at Winged Foot. All that history of so many scores over par.
Thursday brought a surprise: All those red numbers.
Justin Thomas led the way with six birdies and only one bogey from a bad lie in the bunker, finishing with a 25-foot birdie putt that he barely touched for a 5-under 65.
It was the lowest score in a U.S. Open at Winged Foot, which is hosting the Open for the sixth time dating to 1929. And it was worth only a one-shot lead over Patrick Reed, Thomas Pieters of Belgium and Matthew Wolff, the 21-year-old Californian making his U.S. Open debut.
Rory McIlroy, who has been struggling to get off to a decent start in the majors, opened with a 67 and tried to contain his disappointment it wasn’t lower. He had a pair of three-putts that held him back, one on the 329-yard sixth where he hit driver onto the middle of the green and had to settle for par.
McIlroy was among those two shots behind on a scoreboard filled with red numbers, an unusual site for Winged Foot. In the previous five U.S. Opens, a total of 17 players were under par after the first round. On Thursday, there were 21.
No one believes it will stay that way. Still, this was the day to take advantage.
“It’s helpful with three days left, but it’s not even remotely close to being over,” Thomas said of his best start in a U.S Open or any major. “As great of a round and fun as it was, it’s over with now, and I need to get over it.”
Thomas went into the week saying it was a “different kind of fun” to grind over pars, to hit middle irons to difficult pins instead of the low scoring at so many other tournaments.
This was fun, too.
Patrick Reed and Will Zalatoris made a hole-in-one on No. 7, and Zalatoris somehow missed another ace on No. 13. Spanish amateur Eduard Rousand holed out for eagle from the first fairway with his second shot in his U.S. Open debut. Louis Oosthuizen holed out for eagle on second fairway.
“Yeah, 65 is fun no matter where you play, especially at Winged Foot,” Thomas said. “I was in a really good frame of mind, and I was focused. I just was sticking to my routine and playing every shot, as opposed to getting ahead of myself. It’s one of those rounds where … next thing you know, you make the putt on 18, you’re done for the day.”
He played with Tiger Woods and PGA champion Collin Morikawa, who couldn’t get done fast enough.
Woods was in five bunkers through five holes and then appeared to steady himself with three straight birdies around the turn to get under par, but only briefly. He made three bogeys coming in, still had a chance to post a reasonable score and then let it get away.
From short of the steep shelf fronting the 18th green, he flubbed a flop shot, pitched the next one about 8 feet beyond the pin and missed the putt to take double bogey for a73.
“I did not finish off the round like I needed to,” Woods said, an expression he uttered five more times out of the six questions he faced after his round.
Neither did Morikawa, who shot 40 on the back nine for a 76.
Pieters and Wolff dropped only one shot along the way while playing in the afternoon, when the greens became a little more difficult because of all the foot traffic. Even so, low scores – at least by Winged Foot standards – kept coming.
“There’s a couple of guys that went a little lower than maybe expected,” McIlroy said. “But it’s not as if the rest of the field are finding it that easy.”
Raise your hand, Phil Mickelson.
Returning to the scene of a double bogey on the 72nd hole that cost him the 2006 U.S. Open, Mickelson opened with two birdies and still struggled to break 80. He went rough-to-rough on the 18th and shot 79. Dustin Johnson, the No. 1 player in the world, couldn’t make putts and shot 73.
Corey Conners of Listowel, Ont., and Taylor Pendrith of Richmond Hill, Ont., were tied for 33rd at 1 over. Adam Hadwin of Abbotsford, B.C., and Mackenzie Hughes of Dundas, Ont., were tied for 57th at 2 over.
Views from @usopengolf ? pic.twitter.com/7PlMK6vJTg
— Golf Canada (@GolfCanada) September 17, 2020
Low clouds added to the soft feel of Winged Foot. The greens were fast but not as firm. Jordan Spieth discovered that on the first hole. He was trying to figure out if his approach would take a hard hop and release or land soft and spin back. He guessed wrong, the ball rolled down the slope to the front of the the green and he three-putted for bogey. He also shot 73.
Thomas judged it correctly with a short iron left of the flag that spun back close to the hole for birdie. His only dropped shot came at the par-3 third because the ball settled on a downward slope of a bunker, leaving him no chance to get it close. There were few complaints the rest of the way.
He also made three birdies around the turn, narrowly missing a fourth in a row from just inside 10 feet at the par-5 12th. Thomas felt at ease, and Winged Foot allowed him to feel that way. At least Thursday.
The previous low score for a U.S. Open was a 66 by Fuzzy Zoeller in the second round in 1984.
“The greens are very soft,” Thomas said. “I thought they’d be a little firmer, but I also understood that they need to err on this side of they can get them how they want this weekend. … It’s still Winged Foot. You’ve still got to hit the shots.”
Dustin Johnson voted 2020 PGA TOUR Player of the Year
PONTE VEDRA BEACH, FLORIDA – The PGA TOUR announced today that Dustin Johnson has been named the 2020 PGA TOUR Player of the Year as voted by the TOUR’s membership for the 2019-20 season. Scottie Scheffler was voted 2020 PGA TOUR Rookie of the Year.
PGA TOUR members who played at least 10 official FedExCup events during the 2019-20 season were eligible to vote.
Johnson, 36, of Jupiter, Florida, won the FedExCup for the first time in his career, winning twice in the FedExCup Playoffs and three times on the season. The three victories, which came at the Travelers Championship, THE NORTHERN TRUST and the TOUR Championship, tied Johnson with Justin Thomas for the most on TOUR and marked his fourth season with at least three wins. Johnson moved to 27th on the all-time wins list with 23 career PGA TOUR victories and extended his streak of consecutive seasons with a win to start his career to 13, becoming the fourth player to reach that mark (others: Jack Nicklaus, Arnold Palmer, Tiger Woods).
“On behalf of the PGA TOUR, my congratulations to Dustin Johnson on being voted the 2020 PGA TOUR Player of the Year by his peers, the ultimate compliment a player can receive,” said PGA TOUR Commissioner Jay Monahan. “Dustin made it known throughout the season that the FedExCup was a priority and his performances in the FedExCup Playoffs were nothing short of spectacular with two wins and a playoff runner-up at the BMW Championship. His demeanor and athleticism on the course make it look very easy, but behind the scenes, he’s worked incredibly hard coming back from injury and his 2019-20 season speaks for itself in further bolstering his World Golf Hall of Fame resume.”
Johnson, who did not make a start in the fall due to injury, returned to competition in December 2019, representing the United States at the Presidents Cup for the fourth time. He opened the season with a T7 at the Sentry Tournament of Champions and recorded a T10 at The Genesis Invitational, before the season was halted due to the COVID-19 pandemic. When the season resumed in June, Johnson remained outside the top 100 in the FedExCup until his win at the Travelers Championship in his third start, which moved him to No. 22 in the standings.
Three starts later, Johnson began a streak of 12 rounds in the 60s, starting with the World Golf Championships-FedEx St. Jude Invitational (T12). In the first major championship held since the TOUR resumed, Johnson took the lead into the final round of the PGA Championship at TPC Harding Park before finishing runner-up for the second consecutive year, becoming the first player to finish second in the event in consecutive years since Jack Nicklaus (1964, 1965).
Johnson won THE NORTHERN TRUST with a 72-hole total of 30-under 254 and by 11 strokes, the largest margin of victory on TOUR since 2006 (13/Phil Mickelson/BellSouth Classic). The victory, his fifth in the FedExCup Playoffs, moved him to No. 1 in the FedExCup and back to World No. 1 for the first time since May 2019. At the BMW Championship, Johnson fell to Jon Rahm in a playoff, after making a 43-foot, 3-inch birdie putt on the 72nd hole to force extra holes, but maintained the top spot in the FedExCup standings to begin the TOUR Championship on top of the FedExCup Starting Strokes.
Johnson entered the final round at the TOUR Championship leading by five strokes, becoming the first player since Tiger Woods in 1999 to hold the 54-hole lead/co-lead in four consecutive starts (PGA Championship, THE NORTHERN TRUST, BMW Championship, TOUR Championship). After five top-five finishes in the FedExCup in 11 previous seasons, Johnson claimed the FedExCup for the first time and won the TOUR Championship for his sixth career Playoffs title, the most of any player.
In all, Johnson recorded seven top-10s, with three wins and two runner-up finishes (PGA Championship, BMW Championship), and made 11 cuts in 14 starts, ending the season No. 1 in the Official World Golf Ranking.
Johnson, who will receive the Jack Nicklaus Award for winning PGA TOUR Player of the Year, was selected for the honor over (alphabetically) Collin Morikawa, Jon Rahm, Webb Simpson and Justin Thomas. This marks the second time he has been named PGA TOUR Player of the Year (2016, 2020) and the third time in the last four seasons the FedExCup champion has been named Player of the Year.
Scheffler, 24, of Dallas, finished No. 5 in the FedExCup as one of eight PGA TOUR rookies to qualify for the FedExCup Playoffs and one of two to advance to the TOUR Championship. With his fifth-place finish, Scheffler became the second rookie in the FedExCup era to finish the season in the top five of the standings (Xander Schauffele/2016-17). In 23 starts, Scheffler recorded seven top-10s, six of which were top-fives, highlighted by a third-place finish at The American Express. Scheffler recorded his first top-five in a major (T4/PGA Championship) in his fourth major championship start, and he became the 11th different player (12 times) to record a sub-60 score on the PGA TOUR, with a second-round 59 at THE NORTHERN TRUST en route to a second consecutive T4. In all, Scheffler made 18 cuts in 23 starts.
“Our congratulations to Scottie Scheffler on a standout rookie season that saw him excel when it mattered most, in the FedExCup Playoffs,” said Monahan. “To follow up Korn Ferry Tour Player of the Year with being voted PGA TOUR Rookie of the Year by the PGA TOUR membership is an extraordinary achievement and speaks to Scottie’s dedication and work ethic. I’m certain Mr. Palmer would be thrilled with all of the young talent we have on TOUR and how they are conducting themselves, with Scottie leading the way in 2020.”
After two wins on the Korn Ferry Tour in 2019, Scheffler claimed 2019 Korn Ferry Tour Player of the Year honors. He becomes the second consecutive player, and third overall, to be named the Korn Ferry Tour Player of the Year and PGA TOUR Rookie of the Year in successive seasons (1996-97/Stewart Cink, 2018-19/Sungjae Im).
Scheffler, who will receive the Arnold Palmer Award for winning PGA TOUR Rookie of the Year, was selected for the honor over (alphabetically) Harry Higgs, Viktor Hovland and Maverick McNealy.
Hadwin, Conners, Hughes playing as Canadian threesome at US Open
MAMARONECK, N.Y. – An all-Canadian threesome will play the first two rounds of the U.S. Open together.
Adam Hadwin of Abbotsford, B.C., Corey Conners of Listowel, Ont., and Mackenzie Hughes of Dundas, Ont., will tee off at the major at 8:49 a.m. ET on Thursday.
Taylor Pendrith of Richmond Hill, Ont., the only other Canadian in the field, starts at 12:10 p.m. on Thursday with American Richy Werenski and Italy’s Renato Paratore.
The four Canadians were scheduled to play a practice round together on Tuesday at Winged Foot Golf Club.
Hughes (56th in the world golf rankings), Hadwin (64th) and Conners (69th) are the top Canadians in the rankings.
Pendrith is fifth among Canadians at 157th. He qualified for the U.S. Open by virtue of his top-five ranking on the Korn Ferry Tour, the feeder circuit for the PGA Tour.
Mike Weir’s 2003 Masters win is the only victory at a major for a Canadian male golfer.
Coaches proud of Canadian success on PGA Tour for 2019-20 season
Although 2019-20 was a strange, start-and-stop season on the PGA Tour, it was also arguably the best-ever campaign for Canadian golfers.
Mackenzie Hughes, Adam Hadwin, Corey Conners and Nick Taylor have at various points this season all been in the top 100 of the men’s world golf rankings – a new high for Canadian players – and Taylor Pendrith tore it up on the second-tier Korn Ferry Tour.
Derek Ingram, the men’s head coach for Golf Canada, has worked with all five players and said he believes that their success this past season – after the PGA resumed following a three-month break caused by the COVID-19 pandemic – is because of the group’s esprit de corps.
“There’s just a real great Team Canada feel on the PGA Tour,” said Ingram. “These guys eat together, they train together, they practise together, in the evenings because of the bubble they’re having dinner together. Each one of them pushes them to get better.”
Ingram added that there are other factors to the Canadian contingent’s success. He credits the influence of Mike Weir of Brights Grove, Ont., whose 2003 Masters win served as an inspiration for an entire generation of Canadian golfers as well as the development programs of provincial golf associations.
Hughes, from Dundas, Ont., drew most of the attention to close out the 2019-20 season, which officially ended on Monday with the final round of the Tour Championship.
After missing nine of 11 cuts to start the season, Hughes finished second at the Honda Classic on March 1. Hughes refocused himself during the pandemic break and rocketed up the FedEx Cup standings, qualifying for the 30-player Tour Championship with a nail-biting finish at the BMW Championship where he tied for 10th.
Hughes finished the season 14th in the FedEx Cup standings after a solid performance at the Tour Championship, the highest-ever year-end ranking for a Canadian. He’ll also play in next week’s U.S. Open along with Hadwin, Conners and Pendrith in the second week of the 2020-21 season.
“They’re doing unreal,” said Ingram. “Really, the credit goes to the players and their families and how hard they’ve worked. I just can’t tell you how thrilled I am for them as a fan and as a coach of the national team.”
Pendrith, who does not yet have full PGA Tour status, earned his way into the U.S. Open with his strong and consistent play that has put him at No. 4 on the Korn Ferry Tour’s points list heading into this week’s Evans Scholars Invitational.
Another important factor has been the role of NCAA programs in developing professional golfers.
Mac on a MISSION ??
Hughes climbs the leaderboard to finish 14th at the @playofffinale, closing off an excellent run to his season ??#TeamRBC pic.twitter.com/268CG7z8NL
— RBC Canadian Open (@RBCCanadianOpen) September 7, 2020
Herb Page of Markham, Ont., retired as the head coach of Kent State University’s men’s golf team last summer but is still in touch with Hughes, Conners, and Pendrith, all of whom he coached through their collegiate days at the Ohio school.
“They’ve just got someone to lean on, they’ve got that friendly face,” said Page on how camaraderie has benefited the Canadians. “It’s a tough, lonely grind out there, especially this year when you can’t bring your wife or your kids.
“I think even moreso this year (those friendships) are important.”
Although Hughes, Hadwin, Conners, and Taylor get the lion’s share of the attention among the Canadians on tour, they’re not the only ones plying their trade on the PGA.
Graham DeLaet of Weyburn, Sask., will make his return to action at the season opening Safeway Open at Silverado Resort and Spa North in Napa, Calif., on Thursday. He hasn’t played since January when back pain derailed his season.
Roger Sloan of Merritt, B.C., David Hearn of Brantford, Ont., and Michael Gligic of Burlington, Ont., will also be in the field. Ingram said that the depth of Canadian talent in men’s professional golf is also a boon for the sport.
“I’m just thrilled for golf in Canada and for the guys that have been working hard for a long time,” said Ingram. “We’ve never been deeper.”
Dustin Johnson cashes in and finally wins the FedEx Cup
ATLANTA – Dustin Johnson only looks like he plays without a pulse. Beneath his stoic stare and that swagger as he walked the fairways of East Lake were jangled nerves Monday because it meant so much to him.
The $15 million prize for winning the FedEx Cup? That would get anyone’s attention, especially someone who thought he was rich when Johnson cashed his first tournament check as a PGA Tour rookie for $113,571.
But there was more.
“The prestige, for sure,” Johnson said after delivering a key par putt and steady play down the stretch for a 2-under 68 and a three-shot victory in the Tour Championship.
“Being a FedEx Cup champion is something that I really wanted to do. I wanted to hold that trophy at the end of the day,” Johnson said. “It was something that I wanted to accomplish during my career.”
He did it by hitting his stride at just the right time.
He won two of the three FedEx Cup post-season events and lost in a playoff by a 65-foot putt in the other. It all came down to the final day of the final event, and even with a five-shot lead, it was never easy.
Xander Schauffele and Justin Thomas each got within three shots on the front nine. They each got within two shots of Johnson with two holes to play. He never let them catch them, and his only birdie of the back nine on the final hole gave him his third victory since June and the 23rd of his PGA Tour career.
“It’s a very tough trophy to win,” Johnson said. “I controlled my own destiny, but I still had to go out and play well. I had a lot of great players right behind me. It got close at the end. I knew it was going to come down the stretch and I’d have to hit some golf shots.”
None were bigger than the 20-foot par putt on the 13th hole to keep his lead at three shots, the 5-iron safely on the green on the toughest hole at East Lake, another 5-iron over the water on the par-3 15th – the one hole where big numbers lurk – and a wedge out of a deep bunker and onto the green at the 16th.
“This is a tough golf course. No lead is safe,” Johnson said. “The guys gave me a good fight today.”
Johnson became the first No. 1 seed at the Tour Championship to win the FedEx Cup since Tiger Woods in 2009. Now he has his name etched on the silver trophy alongside some of the best from his generation, starting with Woods and most recently Rory McIlroy, with Hall of Famers, major champions and former world No. 1 players in between.
Schauffele, who tends to bring his best golf to big moments, cut the lead to two shots when both had to scramble for par on the 13th. Schauffele missed his par putt from 25 feet, and Johnson rammed his in.
“He’s here to win the tournament,” said Schauffele, who closed with a 66 and had the lowest 72-hole score of the tournament at 265. “He made that putt. I didn’t. That was a pinnacle moment.”
Thomas made bogey from a wild tee shot to the right on the 17th. Schauffele also had to scramble on the 17th, escaping with par after a tee shot into the bunker. And on the par-5 18th, Johnson unleashed a drive that started left along the pine trees and faded gently toward the middle of the fairway.
That set up a birdie from the front bunker, a hug with brother Austin, his caddie, and a trophy he long wanted.
Johnson was staked to a five-shot lead at 19-under par – 9 under on his own score and starting the tournament at 10 under as the No. 1 seed in the FedEx Cup. He finished at 21 under.
Schauffele and Thomas tied for second, each earning $4.5 million.
Jon Rahm, the No. 2 seed, closed with a 66 to finish fourth and earn $3 million. Scottie Scheffler, who a year ago was getting ready to start his rookie year, had a 66-65 finish and was fifth for a $2.5 million payoff.
Mackenzie Hughes of Dundas, Ont., finished the year as the top-ranked Canadian male golfer after placing 14th. Hughes, the lone Canadian to make the Tour Championship, fired a 67 to get to 8 under. He earned $620,000 for his efforts.
Mac on a MISSION ??
Hughes climbs the leaderboard to finish 14th at the @playofffinale, closing off an excellent run to his season ??#TeamRBC pic.twitter.com/268CG7z8NL
— RBC Canadian Open (@RBCCanadianOpen) September 7, 2020
And so wrapped up the strangest season on the PGA Tour, which doesn’t feel like the end at all except for the $15 million awarded to Johnson, $14 million now and $1 million deferred.
The new season starts Thursday. Two majors are still to be played.
Golf was shut down for three months and when it restarted, Johnson was No. 111 in the FedEx Cup. He won the Travelers Championship. He followed with a pair of 80s in the Memorial and then a 78 at the 3M Open in Minnesota before he withdrew because he wasn’t feeling quite right.
Since then, he looks like the biggest talent in golf.
“I played with him at the Memorial, and I’ve never seen him as lost, anywhere remotely close to that lost,” Thomas said. “He was putting so bad and playing so bad. But he never gave up. He was just trying to find it out there and he couldn’t find it again the next week, and then next thing you know, two months later he’s the FedEx Cup champion.
“I think that’s all you need to know about golf right there.”
In four straight tournaments against the best fields, he had the 54-hole three times and was tied in the other. He converted one into an 11-shot win. He lost to a 65 by Collin Morikawa at the PGA Championship and to a 65-foot putt by Rahm at the BMW Championship.
He badly wanted the last one, and even staked to a five-shot lead to par at East Lake, it was never easy.
It rarely is for Johnson.
But he’s back on top at No. 1 and with a trophy he badly wanted. Next up is the U.S. Open at Winged Foot in two weeks, a tough course, the kind Johnson loves. Still to come is the Masters. The celebration can wait until the holidays. He wants to keep going.
“I’m playing well. I’ve got a lot of confidence in the game,” he said. “I’m really looking forward to the next obviously couple months.”
From the fairway, Johnson builds 5 shot lead at East Lake
ATLANTA – Dustin Johnson watched his opening drive sail long and fall gently to the right, just like he imagined. So did the next drive. It was like that all day at East Lake, and the outcome was predictable.
Johnson is playing the best golf and looks tougher than ever to beat.
When he finished with a 10-foot birdie, Johnson matched the low round Sunday with a 6-under 64 to build a five-shot lead over Justin Thomas and Xander Schauffele in the Tour Championship, leaving him one round away from the FedEx Cup and its $15 million prize.
“I’ve got a lot of confidence in everything I’m doing right now,” Johnson said.
A quick fix on the range the previous evening was all he needed to get straightened out. Johnson missed only three fairways, and not by much. He putted for birdie on all but three holes and made seven of them.
“He’s showcased what he can do,” Schauffele said. “If he does what he normally does, it’s going to be almost impossible to catch him.”
Normal these days for Johnson must be daunting for everyone else.
He was at 19-under par, making this his four consecutive start with at least a share of the 54-hole lead. He converted one of those into an 11-shot victory at the TPC Boston. He lost to a 65 by Collin Morikawa in the PGA Championship and o a 65-foot putt by Jon Rahm in a playoff last week at Olympia Fields.
“We’re going to need Dustin to throw us a bone and not have a good day,” said Rahm, who was six shots back.
Johnson knows better than anyone that it’s not over. He had a six-shot lead in Shanghai three years ago and failed to win, though he had a new set of irons and was coming off a five-week break. He also had a five-shot lead at The Northern Trust two weeks ago and obliterated the course and the field to win by 11.
“If he hits the ball like everybody knows he can and the way he’s putting … I haven’t seen him putt that well in a long time,” Harris English said. “It’s hard to stop.”
Only four players have a reasonable chance of catching him.
Schauffele, a big-game player who won the Tour Championship three years ago, dropped only one shot on the front nine and finished with a 10-foot birdie putt for a 67 that put him in the final group with Johnson.
Thomas missed a 16-inch par putt on the 10th hole that he carelessly went to tap in, bounced back with a 25-foot birdie putt on the toughest par 3 at East Lake and made two more birdies coming for a 66.
They were at 14 under.
“DJ is clearly playing well. It wasn’t easy today,” Thomas said. “It’s still East Lake. But anything can happen around this course. You can shoot 63 or 64 and you can shoot 73 or 74 very easily. I just need to hope that tomorrow is my 63 or 64.”
Rahm has had a wild week. He opened with a 65, followed with a 74 and bounced back with a 66. He played bogey-free and his round only felt better when he finished with two birdies.
“The one good thing I have going for me is we’re here to win, so tomorrow is a green light for everything,” Rahm said.
Morikawa rallied with five birdies on the back nine to salvage a rough start for a 67. He was seven behind.
Daniel Berger also had a 64, but he made up no ground on Johnson was remained nine behind. Also at 10-under was Sungjae Im, who played in the final group with Johnson and must have wondered what hit him. Im shot 72.
The FedEx Cup has been on Johnson’s mind ever since he squandered a great chance to win it in 2016.
He went into the final round that year tied for the lead and then couldn’t find a fairway, closing with a 73. He still had a chance to win the FedEx Cup when it was based on points. Only one player could have beaten him that day and it was Rory McIlroy, who holed a shot from the fairway on the 16th for eagle and then won in a three-way playoff.
Johnson moves on from wins and losses, no matter how high or how crushing. Even so, he thinks about that day, mainly because the FedEx Cup is filled with big names and his isn’t among them yet.
“To be the FedEx Cup champion is something that I want to do. It’s something that I want on my resume when I quit playing golf,” he said. “Yeah, it means a lot to me. So yes, I do want to win this tournament. … I had a chance to win it a few years ago. I couldn’t control winning by my golf. Tomorrow, I do.”
Canadian Mackenzie Hughes of Dundas, Ont., fired a 66 to jump into a tie for 20th.
52-footer? No problem for @MacHughesGolf ?
That’s the longest putt made this week pic.twitter.com/tv85aLtZbX
— Golf Canada (@GolfCanada) September 7, 2020
McIlroy won’t be in the mix this year. He was walking off the 17th tee and looked back at Johnson heading to the 14th, a 512-yard par 4 and the toughest at East Lake. Johnson already was 10 shots ahead of him, and then smashed a drive down the fairway and made a 15-foot birdie putt.
McIlroy birdied the 17th to salvage a 70. He was 11 shots back.
Johnson turns rough day into 1 shot lead at East Lake
ATLANTA – The final hole at East Lake brought two strange sights Saturday at the Tour Championship.
First, Rory McIlroy hit a shot that toppled out of thick rough right into the water in front of him, a distance laser cameras estimated at 85 feet, 8 inches, not accounting for how far it sank to the bottom.
Then, Dustin Johnson reached his drive and could see the entire golf ball in the grass. It was in the first cut, sure, but a relief considering he didn’t hit a fairway over the final three hours.
It was a rare green light for Johnson, and he hit 5-iron to 30 feet for a two-putt birdie and an even-par 70, allowing to escape with a one-shot lead over Sungjae Im at the halfway point of the chase for the FedEx Cup and the $15 million prize.
Johnson headed straight to the range to try to figure out why he hit only two fairways, though he was satisfied to have so few chances and still stay in front.
“Two different golf courses if you’re playing from the fairway or playing from the rough,” Johnson said. “Playing from the fairway you can attack the course, you can shoot a good score. Playing from where I did, it’s not so much fun. But I managed my game pretty well, and pleased with the score that I shot, especially the way I drove the ball.”
McIlroy also shrugged off his shot, in which he tried to do too much with a gnarly lie, not so much to get over the water but a bunker on the right side. It cost him a bogey for a 71 that left him five behind, though he could see a bigger picture.
“It doesn’t look like I’m going to lose any ground today anyway, which is some sort of consolation,” he said.
That might have been the best take after a second round filled with birdies and blunders. The next 36 holes are all about opportunity for the nine player separated by just five shots.
As well as Johnson has been playing – two runner-up finishes and an 11-shot victory in his last three starts – there was a chance he could have taken his two-shot lead at the start of the tournament and run away with it.
Johnson, with rounds of 67-70 along with starting at 10 under as the No. 1 seed in the FedEx Cup, was at 13 under.
Im, the budding star from South Korea whose game had gone lukewarm coming out of the three-month shutdown, birdied three of his last four holes for a 64 and will be in the final group with Johnson.
Xander Schauffele, who won the Tour Championship as a rookie in 2017, ran off three straight birdies late in his round for a 65 and was two shots behind. Another big move came from PGA champion Collin Morikawa, whose 66 put him four shots out of the lead.
Johnson hit the fairway on the first and fifth holes – both pars. He still managed a birdie on No. 8 when he drove into a bunker, came up short of the green and chipped in from 40 feet, both the par 5s and on No. 3, where he made a 40-footer.
“I feel like I got my two bad rounds out of the way and I got two good ones coming, where the other guys, they’ve shot some good scores,” Johnson said. “My game feels good. I’ve still got a lot of confidence in everything I’m doing. Just I’ve got to hit it in the fairway. That’s pretty simple.”
He wasn’t alone in his struggles.
Justin Thomas pulled within one shot until he couldn’t convert birdie chances and then drove so far left on the 18th that he had to pitch out sideways, leading to bogey and a 71.
Jon Rahm again was keeping stride with Johnson until he found the water off the tee at the par-3 15th and made double bogey, followed by a wild drive that led to bogey on the 16th. He shot a 74, nine shots worse than his opening round. That left him four shots behind at 9 under.
That’s what was so maddening for Thomas, who felt like he was hitting it well enough from tee to green. He ranks last in the 30-man field in putting, which would not surprise him.
“I should have never shot over par today with how well I played,” he said. “I just made absolutely nothing.”
That much was evident when his 6-foot par putt swirled in and out of the cup, and Thomas gave it a sarcastic thumbs-up.
Rahm was frustrated as ever, mainly because he couldn’t capitalize when he was in the fairway and felt it was another round at East Lake that would cost him. Now, however, he’s still only four shots behind with 36 holes remaining and $15 million still very much up for grabs.
“The closest I came from the fifth hole on to make a birdie was that bunker shot on 18,” he said of his third shot from behind the green. “That’s the best look I had all day. It’s just one of those days. But like you said, the mentality is right now we’ve played two days of the tournament. I’m four back going into the weekend. Anything can happen.”
Rahm has 65 to catch up to Johnson at Tour Championship
ATLANTA – Five days later, Dustin Johnson and Jon Rahm are still going at it. They dressed about the same Friday in the Tour Championship, matched birdies on five holes and wound up tied for the lead at East Lake.
That required Rahm getting the better of Johnson again.
Rahm, whose 65-foot birdie putt beat Johnson in a playoff at Olympia Fields last week, had a 5-under 65 that allowed him to make up the two-shot deficit at the start of the round that was awarded Johnson as the No. 1 seed in the FedEx Cup.
Johnson did his part with a 67, losing a three-shot edge early with back-to-back bogeys to end the front nine, and then missing a birdie putt from just over 4 feet on the final hole that would have given him the lead.
“The only birdie we didn’t share was mine on 16. Besides that, we birdied every single hole together, which is kind of unique, right?” Rahm said.
They were at 13-under par based on their starting positions in the FedEx Cup finale.
It was the second straight year under this format the FedEx Cup leader, who starts at 10 under with a two-shot lead, ended the opening round in a tie for the lead.
“Technically, it is a continuation,” Rahm said. “I kind of stole that tournament last week from him and he started with a two-shot lead. So hopefully, I can steal this one, as well.”
Justin Thomas was in the top spot a year ago and opened with a 70. He said later it felt awkward to start the tournament with a two-shot lead before hitting a shot. This year, he began at 7 under and shot a 66 to end the day two shots behind.
“I learned I would have rather been at 10 under than 7,” he said. “That being said, I feel like I’m in a good frame of mind. I’m in a good place mentally right now where I would like to feel like I would handle the golf course the same no matter what I was at. But I did a good job of just staying in my game today.”
The biggest move belonged to the player who might have had the least expectations. Rory McIlroy left Chicago on Sunday and spent three days with his newborn daughter, Poppy, only arriving in Atlanta on Thursday.
He finished with three straight birdies, getting up-and-down from a bunker short of the green on the par-5 18th, for a 64. He started seven shots behind and finished the opening round only four back.
“Even though I’ve had success here, I was coming in with no expectations. I didn’t touch a club for four days in between tournaments,” McIlroy said. “I come in here and golf was sort of the furthest thing from my mind. And sometimes that’s a good thing just to decompress and get away from it. Yeah, happy to have the start that I did.”
Abraham Ancer also had a 64 and cut three shots off his deficit, getting within six shots of Johnson and Rahm.
Mackenzie Hughes of Dundas, Ont., the only Canadian in the tournament, shot an even-par 70 to finish the round tied for 26th with Billy Horschel and Joaquin Niemann.
A a muggy afternoon with moderate wind that allowed for 17 players in the 30-man field to break par. The average score was 68.7. Johnson and Rahm spent most of the day playing out of the rough, which makes it harder to get it close.
“The key out here is driving,” Johnson said. “If you can drive it in the fairway, you can shoot a good score. The greens are so good, and the only way to control the golf ball coming into the greens is hitting out of the fairway. That’s the only thing I need to do a little better tomorrow.”
Johnson, Rahm and Thomas hold the key to so many hopes in the chase for the FedEx Cup and its $15 million prize. If they play well, it makes it difficult for anyone to make up too much ground on the players who happened to be the top three players in the world ranking.
Johnson and Rahm had golf buzzing last week with that wild finish at the BMW Championship, where Johnson holed a bending 45-foot birdie putt down the slope on the final hole to force a playoff, and Rahm followed by making a 65-foot birdie putt on the 18th hole that turned out to be the winner.
Both wore navy trousers, a light blue shirt and a white cap. From a distance, it could be hard to tell them apart, especially with the birdies. Rahm holed one from 20 feet on the par-3 second hole, and Johnson matched him from 6 feet. Both got up-and-down for birdie on the par-5 sixth.
On the back nine, they matched birdies on the 12th, 13th and 15th holes – Rahm was outside him all three times.
“I feel like I was doing most of the pushing because I made pretty much every single birdie putt before he did,” Rahm said. “Props to him to be making them on top of me.”
The Spaniard finally caught him an 18-foot birdie putt on the 16th – Rahm’s fourth birdie in five holes – and both squandered birdie chances on the closing hole.
Rory McIlroy and wife announce birth of their daughter
ATLANTA – Rory McIlroy is the last of 30 players to arrive at the Tour Championship and couldn’t be more thrilled.
His wife gave birth to their first child.
McIlroy announced on social media that his daughter, Poppy Kennedy McIlroy, was born Monday in Florida.
“She is the absolute love of our lives,” McIlroy said.
McIlroy had told only close friends that his wife, Erica, was expecting. It was mentioned on Golf Channel last week at the BMW Championship and he confirmed she was due at any time. McIlroy said he would be willing to miss the Tour Championship and a shot at winning the FedEx Cup.
Poppy Kennedy McIlroy, born August 31st, 12:15pm. She is the absolute love of our lives. Mother and baby are doing great. Massive thank you to all the staff at Jupiter Medical Center and Dr Sasha Melendy for their amazing care ❤️❤️❤️ pic.twitter.com/IwFeGf8rod
— Rory McIlroy (@McIlroyRory) September 3, 2020
That won’t be the case now.
McIlroy, trying to become the first three-time FedEx Cup champion, starts the Tour Championship as the No. 11 seed, meaning he is seven shots behind Dustin Johnson.