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.

Mackenzie Hughes pumped his fist when he drained a five-foot putt on the 18th green on Sunday at the BMW Championship to move into the top 30 of the FedEx Cup rankings. After retrieving the ball from the hole he threw his hands into the air as much out of relief as excitement for the future.

Making par on No. 18 at Olympia Fields Country Club meant that Hughes, from Dundas, Ont., tied for 10th at the tournament to move eight spots up in the rankings and qualify for the exclusive Tour Championship, which tees off on Friday.

The Tour Championship, held at East Lake Golf Club in Atlanta, sees the top 30 players on the PGA Tour play four rounds of golf. Top-ranked Dustin Johnson starts at 10 under, No. 2 Jon Rahm begins at 9 under, and so on, with Hughes in a five-way tie for 26th at even par.

CLUTCH ? pic.twitter.com/ymUALeZh8p

— Golf Canada (@GolfCanada) August 30, 2020

“I know I’ll start with long odds, but that’s why you play. There’s no guarantees,” said Hughes. “I’m excited to be there and to have the opportunity and I’ll go and try to make the most of it.”

Finishing the PGA season in the top 30 has other perks for Hughes, including making three of golf’s four majors, as well as the Players Championship and the Tournament of Champions.

Hughes said he’s excited for what the 2021 season holds, but returning to storied Augusta National Golf Club has long been a target after missing the cut in 2017, his lone appearance at the event.

“Going to the Masters again has been on my radar ever since I went my rookie year. I was just really disappointed with how it went the first time around,” said Hughes on Monday. “I just wanted to have another chance at it someday.

“You don’t get tons of cracks at it. The Masters is one that’s really tough to qualify for, you’ve either got to win, be top 50 in the world, or make the Tour Championship. I’m just super excited to be a part of it.”

Hughes had a difficult start to the 2020 season, missing nine of 11 cuts until the Honda Classic where he finished second on March 1.

He credits caddy Jace Walker and coach Ralph Bauer – who he started working with this summer – in helping him turn his season around. In particular, Hughes thinks mental toughness and creating a positive vibe with Walker when they’re on the course has made the difference.

“I’m a pretty gritty and determined player,” said Hughes. “If I keep my head on straight and think clear in tough moments I think that’s a big asset of mine. That’s been a huge strength in the last year.”

 

View this post on Instagram

 

On the big stage ? Mac kicks things off Friday at 12:10 pm, starting at even par.

A post shared by Golf Canada (@thegolfcanada) on Sep 2, 2020 at 7:01am PDT

That fortitude was put to the test on Sunday when Hughes was on the 18th fairway and a spot in the Tour Championship was on the line. After hitting a drive to the fairway, Hughes’s approach shot landed in a greenside bunker.

“My thought was ‘what the heck are you doing, man?’ I was not super pleased with myself there,” said Hughes. “Obviously, made a bad swing at the wrong time after hitting a great drive too.”

Hughes and Walker spoke as they walked to the bunker, clearing the golfer’s head and leaving the bad shot behind on the fairway.

“I just told myself I had to make an up-and-down out of the bunker and I do that all the time,” said Hughes, who did make the clean out to set up the five-foot putt.

After the BMW Championship Hughes flew home to Charlotte, N.C., to sleep in his own bed and take advantage of the Tour Championship’s Friday start. He’s pleased that his support system will be even broader at the season’s finale as his wife Jenna, their son, and her parents will be able to come to the Tour Championship after the PGA loosened its COVID-19 protocols for the tournament.

“I think with anything you do in life that’s good it’s more fun to do with the people that you love and be able to share with people,” said Hughes. “It’s going to be great to have them all there with me.”

PONTE VEDRA BEACH, Florida – The PGA TOUR today announced the complete schedule for the 2020-21 PGA TOUR Season, featuring 50 official FedExCup tournaments – including 14 tournaments that were postponed or canceled as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic – culminating with the crowning of the FedExCup champion Labor Day weekend in 2021.

The schedule, which reflects a net increase of one tournament over the original 2019-20 schedule, features the most tournaments in a season since 1975 (51). Three events postponed in 2020 – U.S. Open, Corales Puntacana Resort & Club Championship and Masters Tournament – will be played in the fall portion of the 2020-21 season and again in their traditional dates during the 2021 calendar year, along with 11 tournaments that were canceled and not rescheduled as a result of the pandemic, including THE PLAYERS Championship. In addition, with the postponement of the Summer Olympic Games in Tokyo in 2020, the men’s Olympic Golf competition will take place July 26-August 1, 2021, as a standalone event for the first time.

“We are excited to present the full 2020-21 PGA TOUR schedule – a ‘super season’ of 50 fully sponsored events and capped off by the 15^th edition of the FedExCup Playoffs,” said PGA TOUR Commissioner Jay Monahan. “If you’re a golf fan, this is a dream season with more significant events than ever before, including the Olympic Games. Building our schedule is always complicated, but never more so as over the past several months as we continue to navigate challenges brought about by the COVID-19 pandemic. We appreciate the extensive collaboration with our title sponsors, tournament organizations and golf’s governing bodies that has brought us here – to the exciting conclusion of an extraordinary 2019-20 season this week, and on the brink of a season of 50 events, beginning next week.”

As previously announced, the 2020-21 season will begin September 7-13 at the Safeway Open in Napa, California, which will serve as the season-opening tournament for the sixth time in seven years since the TOUR went to a wraparound schedule. The U.S. Open (September 14-20) at Winged Foot Golf Club in Mamaroneck, New York, follows, being played in the month of September for the first time since 1913, as well as the rescheduled Corales Puntacana Resort & Club Championship (September 21-27), which will award full FedExCup points (500) for the first time.

The Sanderson Farms Championship (September 28-October 4) will precede a three-event swing on the West Coast with the relocation of two of the TOUR’s Asia Swing events. Following the TOUR’s annual stop in Las Vegas for the Shriners Hospitals for Children Open (October 5-11), THE CJ CUP @ NINE BRIDGES, annually played in Jeju Island, Korea, will be played at Shadow Creek Golf Course in Las Vegas, and will be renamed THE CJ CUP @ SHADOW CREEK (October 12-18) for 2020. The following week, Japan’s ZOZO CHAMPIONSHIP will be played at Sherwood Country Club in Thousand Oaks, California, and renamed the ZOZO CHAMPIONSHIP @ SHERWOOD (October 19-25) for 2020.

The final event of the traditional Asia Swing and the season’s first World Golf Championships event, the WGC-HSBC Champions has been canceled, with the Bermuda Championship (October 26-November 1) occupying the week on its own and awarding full FedExCup points.

The Houston Open moves a month later on the 2020-21 schedule (November 2-8) and precedes the Masters (November 9-15).  The fall portion of the schedule concludes with The RSM Classic (November 16-22), the week prior to the Thanksgiving holiday, and the Mayakoba Golf Classic (November 30-December 6) the week after.

The TOUR returns at the Sentry Tournament of Champions (January 4-10) with the same sequencing as the 2019-20 season until March, as there have been adjustments made to a number of Florida-based tournaments. The Arnold Palmer Invitational presented by Mastercard (March 1-7) and THE PLAYERS Championship (March 8-14) will follow the WGC-Mexico Championship and Puerto Rico Open (both February 22-28), while The Honda Classic (March 15-21) moves to the week after THE PLAYERS. The Valspar Championship (April 26-May 2), traditionally played the week after THE PLAYERS, will now conclude on May 2, between the Zurich Classic of New Orleans (April 19-25) and the Wells Fargo Championship (May 3-9).

After the 40^th playing of The Honda Classic, the TOUR’s longest-running title sponsored event dating back to 1982 – an eight-week stretch begins that includes six tournaments that were canceled and not rescheduled during the 2019-20 season prior to the PGA Championship, beginning with the WGC-Dell Technologies Match Play (March 22-28) through the AT&T Byron Nelson (May 10-16), set to be contested for the first time at TPC Craig Ranch in McKinney, Texas.

Additional tournaments that return to the schedule include the RBC Canadian Open (June 7-13), John Deere Classic (July 5-11), The Open Championship and the Barbasol Championship (both July 12-18).

The men’s Olympic Golf competition (July 26-August 1) will be played the week after the 3M Open (July 19-25) as a standalone event for the first time and will be followed by the WGC-FedEx St. Jude Invitational and Barracuda Championship (both August 2-8), before the FedExCup Regular Season concludes at the Wyndham Championship (August 9-15).

The FedExCup Playoffs will consist of three events: THE NORTHERN TRUST returns to Liberty National Golf Club in Jersey City, New Jersey, which will host the event for the fourth time; the BMW Championship will be played for the first time at Caves Valley Golf Club in Owings Mills, Maryland, outside of Baltimore; and the season-ending TOUR Championship at East Lake Golf Club in Atlanta will conclude on September 5, the Sunday of Labor Day weekend.

In addition to Caves Valley Golf Club, host of the 2021 BMW Championship, the 2020-21 season features several new or familiar venues. As previously announced, Shadow Creek Golf Course in Las Vegas and Sherwood Country Club in Thousand Oaks, California, will host tournaments for one year only. For the first time, the Houston Open will be played at Memorial Park Golf Course in downtown Houston; TPC Craig Ranch in McKinney, Texas, will host the AT&T Byron Nelson for the first time; and St. George’s Golf and Country Club in Toronto, Canada, will return as host of the RBC Canadian Open for the first time since 2010.

Rotating major championship venues in 2021 include The Ocean Course at Kiawah Island Golf Resort at Kiawah Island, South Carolina (PGA Championship), Torrey Pines Golf Course in San Diego, California (U.S. Open), and Royal St. George’s Golf Club in Sandwich, Kent, England (Open Championship). Kasumigaseki Country Club in Japan will host the men’s Olympic Golf competition.

OLYMPIA FIELDS, Ill. – With so few people around, Jon Rahm still got word from the other side of the Olympia Fields clubhouse that Dustin Johnson had made a 45-foot birdie on the final hole to force a playoff Sunday in the BMW Championship.

Resilient as ever, Rahm went out and made some magic of his own.

From one end of the 18th green to the other, Rahm’s putt from just over 65 feet rolled down the ridge and into the cup, setting off a roar so loud it nearly made up for not having spectators.

Johnson could only laugh at his birdie putt, eliciting a rare show of emotion – a slow, sweeping upper cut. And he had the same reaction to what Rahm did. What else is there to do?

The course that all week felt like a U.S. Open delivered the kind of excitement typical of the Masters.

Rahm’s big birdie putt on the first extra hole spared him thoughts of his blunder in the third round, when he picked up his ball on the fifth green without marking it, leading to a one-shot penalty and his only bogey of the weekend.

He tore through the back nine Sunday on his way to a 6-under 64, the lowest round of the week, to finish at 4-under 276.

Johnson, a 54-hole leader for his third straight tournament and coming off an 11-shot victory last week at the TPC Boston, birdied three of his opening four holes to open a three-shot lead, dropped a pair of shots around the turn and then delivered in the clutch with his 45-foot birdie putt on the last hole for a 67.

It was only good enough to stay at No. 1 by a slim margin.

He also stays at No. 1 in the FedEx Cup going to the Tour Championship, meaning he will start the chase for the $15 million bonus at 10-under par, two ahead of Rahm, the No. 2 seed.

Rahm won for the second time this year on the PGA Tour, and the 11th time in his career worldwide.

Mackenzie Hughes had reason to celebrate, too. He was on the verge of playing his way into the top 30 who advance to East Lake when he took a sloppy bogey on the 17th. Needing a par on the 18th, he put his approach into the front bunker, splashed out to 5 feet and raised both arms when it dropped.

CLUTCH ? pic.twitter.com/ymUALeZh8p

— Golf Canada (@GolfCanada) August 30, 2020

“Yeah, that was some of the most pressure I’ve felt in a long time,” said Hughes.

“You know, I’ve contended to win some tournaments this summer, and that kind of felt like the same kind of intensity on that putt. I really woke up today with a pretty bad neck and really struggled tee to green. Didn’t have my good stuff at all, and somehow found a way to grind it out. I made it pretty hard there down the stretch, but just really thankful and relieved to get it done.”

Niemann also moved into the top 30, though he was chasing victory all day.

The top 30 are assured spots in at least three majors next year, along with the Sentry Tournament of Champions at Kapalua to start the year. The winners-only event is taking the top 30 in the FedEx Cup from having lost three months of the season to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Tiger Woods missed all the action. He made double bogey on his 17th hole for a 71, making this the first time he was over par in all four rounds of a tournament since the Bridgestone Invitational in 2010. Woods failed to reach the Tour Championship for the second straight year. He now gets two weeks off before the U.S. Open at Winged Foot, and Olympia Fields proved to be a good test for that.

OLYMPIA FIELDS, Ill. – Dustin Johnson says his game feels similar to last week when he had the easiest of his 23 career victories.

It just doesn’t look that way at the BMW Championship.

Every par at Olympia Fields is hard work, and Johnson played the final 13 holes Saturday with nothing worse than that. It’s what carried him to a 1-under 69 and a share of the lead with Hideki Matsuyama, leaving them as the only players under par going into the final round.

“I feel like it’s fairly similar, just obviously these conditions and the greens are a lot more difficult,” he said. “This is pretty much a major championship venue, and the conditions, the way it’s set up, it’s playing just like a major.”

Matsuyama, who had a three-shot lead early when he holed a bunker shot for eagle at the start and stuffed a wedge in tight for birdie on No. 4, fell back with a string of bogeys and held it together for a 69.

“Great start and then just had to hang on,” Matsuyama said. “Just tried to do what I could to stay in, and I was happy with how it went.”

Johnson and Maruyama were at 1-under 209. Everyone else was over par going into the final round.

Sunday is one last chance for some players to be among the top 30 who advance to the FedEx Cup finale, and one last round for others – like Tiger Woods – to prepare for the U.S. Open on a course that plays every bit as tough.

Patrick Cantlay only hit five fairways and didn’t make a birdie as he tumbled out of a tie for the lead with a round with a 75 that left him five shots behind and might cost him a spot in the Tour Championship.

Rory McIlroy had to play left-handed to escape the base of a tree in starting the back nine with a bogey, and he finished with a shot he thought was going to be long, came up 70 feet short and led to a three-putt bogey for a 73. He still was only three shots back assuming he plays.

McIlroy said after the round his wife is expecting their first child, news they had shared with family and friends but was revealed during the NBC broadcast. He said his caddie and best friend, Harry Diamond, has kept a phone in his pocket to not miss a call. And if it’s time, he said, “I’m out of here.”

Jon Rahm matched the low round of the day at 66 that could have easily been one shot better if not for a blunder that even he couldn’t believe. He forgot to set a marker down on the green before picking up his golf ball on No. 5, freezing in his tracks when he realized what happened.

“I was thinking of somebody else or something else … and yeah, I just picked up the ball without marking it, simple as that,” Rahm said after a round that left him only three behind. “I can’t really give you an explanation. It’s one of those things that happen in golf. Never thought it would in my professional career, but here we are.”

A week ago at The Northern Trust on a rain-softened course with little wind, Johnson was at 22-under par through three rounds and had a five-shot lead. That felt easy. This does not.

Joaquin Niemann had a 68 and was part of the group at 1-over 211 that included Adam Scott (70) and Canada’s Mackenzie Hughes (69). Another shot back were the likes of Rahm, Bubba Watson, Brendon Todd and Kevin Kisner, who had 15 pars, two birdie and bogey for his round of 70.

Canadian @MacHughesGolf is the first golfer to register two rounds under par this week ? pic.twitter.com/8rzR80hi5O

— Golf Canada (@GolfCanada) August 30, 2020

Hughes is in search of his third top-10 in the Return of Golf (Travelers Championship/T3, the Memorial Tournament presented by Nationwide/T6); owns one victory (2016 The RSM Classic) in 108 TOUR starts. He is projected to advance by finishing inside the top 30.

“You know, this golf course is actually a pretty good distraction because it’s so hard that you have to just focus on every shot so much that it’s easy to just kind of get in your own world out there and just the task at hand, the task at hand. So that’s been kind of nice,” said Hughes.

“Obviously in between shots your mind wanders sometimes, but this is kind of where you want to be. Obviously I would have loved to have locked it up by now, but I’m happy to have this opportunity and I’ll go embrace it tomorrow.”

Rounds like that go a long way at Olympia Fields, the former U.S. Open course playing like one with its thick rough and rock-hard greens and enough wind to make the fairways look tighter than they are.

“I’ve played good and bad this week, and I’ve had basically the same score every day,” Scott said, whose superb bunker play kept him close. “I saw today, though, that if I hit it well, there’s a chance to make a few putts. One of this leading group will shoot 4 under tomorrow, 4 or 5 under I’m sure.”

Woods, meanwhile, had a reasonable start to his round and wasn’t losing much ground until he lost a tee shot into the water right of the 17th fairway and then smothered a fairway metal to the left. He walked across a cart path smacking the club off the concrete and twice looked like he wanted to break it. He missed a short putt for triple bogey and shot 72.

Woods has yet to break par this week. One more round like that and it will be the first time in 10 years – the Bridgestone Invitational at Firestone – that he had all four rounds over par. He needed something around fourth to advance to the Tour Championship for the first time since 2018.

Matsuyama is trying to end three years without a victory. Johnson is trying to win for the second time in seven days, along with positioning himself to be the top seed at the Tour Championship, which would allow him to start the tournament with a two-shot lead under the staggered start.

For players like Niemann, Hughes of Dundas, Ont., and Scott, they are simply trying to get to East Lake in Atlanta. All of them are one round away on a golf course where small mistakes can lead to bogeys or worse on just about every hole.

Corey Conners (70) of Listowel, Ont., was tied for 21st, Adam Hadwin (73) of Abbotsford, B.C., was tied for 47th and Nick Taylor (73), also of Abbotsford, was tied for 55th.

Conners recorded an ace on the par-3 6th hole on Saturday.

? Ace by @coreconn ? pic.twitter.com/LS1rA7ubsR

— Golf Canada (@GolfCanada) August 29, 2020

NORTON, Mass. – Dark clouds gathered. Thunder rumbled. Lightning flashed on the horizon. Just as unsettling was seeing Dustin Johnson in complete control of his game with a performance worthy of his return to No. 1 in the world.

He was as close to unbeatable as he has ever been.

Johnson capped off his dominant week at The Northern Trust with an 8-under 63, finishing with a tap-in birdie in the dark following a storm delay for an 11-shot victory at the TPC Boston.

It was the largest margin of victory since Phil Mickelson won by 13 at the TPC Sugarloaf in 2006.

“The best I’ve ever seen him look,” said Claude Harmon III, his swing coach, as he stood off the 18th green that was partially illuminated by the video board that flashed the scores of this astounding feat.

Johnson hit every green in regulation Sunday, and missed only three greens over his last 54 holes. His final 54 holes were rounds of 60-64-63.

Johnson finished at 30-under 254, making him only the third player in PGA Tour history to finish at 30 under or better. He missed the record by one shot set by Ernie Els in 2003 at Kapalua. Jordan Spieth also was 30 under at Kapalua in 2016. Johnson at least holds the record on the mainland.

“I knew I was playing well and I knew the guys were going to shoot low,” Johnson said. “I was trying to get to 30 under. … I’ve never shot 30 under in four rounds. Just something that I wanted to do.”

That was about the only competition he faced.

Harris English figured that out early when he trailed by five shots at the start of the final round, shot 32 on the front nine and fell seven shots behind.

“Kind of had my own tournament that I was playing,” English said. “I mean, really, the goal starting today wasn’t necessarily to win. It was to put myself in position to have a run in the FedEx Cup. That’s why we’re all here.”

English did the job, With a bogey in the dark that didn’t matter at the end, he shot 69 to finish alone in second and moved to No. 6 in the FedEx Cup, securing his place among the top 30 who go to East Lake for the Tour Championship. English started the year with only partial status.

Louis Oosthuizen delivered, too, in what might have been the only drama Sunday. Oosthuizen was No. 99 in the FedEx Cup and appeared to waste his opportunity when he was 4 over through 14. He came to the par-5 18th needing birdie, drove into the fairway, and then had to wait more than an hour because of the storm delay.

He hit the green with a 3-iron, rolled the eagle putt 4 feet by the hole because he could barely see, and knocked in the birdie to move to No. 70 on the number. The top 70 go to the BMW Championship at Olympia Fields next week.

“Most happy 73 that I’ve had in a while,” Oosthuizen said.

Johnson won for the 22nd time in his career, and he never made it look easier. He said his game felt as good as the spring of 2017, when he won three straight tournaments – Riviera and two World Golf Championships – to first reach No. 1.

It was his fifth victory in a FedEx Cup playoff event, tied for most with Rory McIlroy.

Staked to a five-shot lead over Harris English going into the final round, Johnson sent a towering 7-iron over the water to a front pin on the par-5 second, the ball settling 8 feet next to the pin for an eagle. Two holes later, his 3-wood was placed perfectly in front of the fourth green for a simple up-and-down for birdie.

It was like that all day. It was like that all week.

On the 500-yard 12th hole, where on Saturday he hit a tight draw with a 6-iron to a foot, Johnson hit 6-iron with a slight fade to 3 feet for another birdie.

All that was left was to see he could top the 72-hole record of 253 set by Justin Thomas at the Sony Open in 2017. Johnson settled into a string of pars until the final hole, and later said he didn’t know what the record was.

“Next time,” he said.

That’s not unusual. During his peak run in 2017, he was poised to break the longest 72-hole tournament record on the PGA Tour at Riviera, the 20-under by Lanny Wadkins in 1985. Johnson was at 20 under with 12 holes to play, went into conservative mode and made three bogeys on his last 10 holes. He was unaware of that record, too, and wasn’t bothered.

Johnson is more about trophies than records. And this trophy was never in doubt

“He can absolutely dismantle a golf course when he’s on,” said Kevin Kisner, who grew up playing junior golf in South Carolina with Johnson. “I’ve been watching it for 25 years. I’m pretty accustomed to it. When he’s on, I just step to the side and try to add to my bank account.”

Kisner did that part well. He closed with a 66, moving him to No. 23 in his bid to lock up a spot in the Tour Championship. He had said all week he wanted to take care of that at the TPC Boston instead of having to deliver next week in the BMW Championship at Olympia Fields, a course he has never seen.

Robby Shelton closed with a 63, enough for him to be among six players who moved into the top 70. The others were Oosthuizen, Harry Higgs, Alex Noren, Russell Henley and Jason Kokrak. Five of the six players knocked out missed the cut, including Phil Mickelson. The other was Denny McCarthy, who shot 73 on Sunday.

Tiger Woods opened with four straight birdies and had to settle for a 66 to tie for 58th. He fell to No. 57 in the FedEx Cup, in danger of missing the Tour Championship for the second straight year.

NORTON, Mass. – Dustin Johnson could have used a finish like this for a record score. The birdie-eagle ending to his round Saturday at The Northern Trust gave him a 7-under 64 and stretched his lead to five shots in the FedEx Cup playoffs opener.

Johnson, coming off a remarkable day in which he was 11 under through 11 holes and finished with seven pars for a 60, pulled away from Harris English and Scottie Scheffler with a 20-foot birdie putt on the 17th and a 40-footer for eagle on the closing hole at the TPC Boston.

He was at 22-under 191, his lowest 54-hole score by three shots.

“I’m in a great position and like where I’m at, but I’m still going to have to go out and shoot a good score,” Johnson said. “You can go low out here and guys are going low every day, especially with the conditions we have – perfect greens, golf course is in great shape and not a lot of wind.”

English had three birdies in a four-hole stretch early on the back nine and was tied for the lead when Johnson made his lone bogey of the round on the 13th hole when he failed to get up-and-down from a bunker.

English, however, followed with consecutive bogeys when he missed the green well to the right of the water on the par-3 16th, and three-putted from 70 feet on the 17th. He missed a third consecutive putt from 7 feet or closer, the last one for birdie, and had to settle for a 66.

Scheffler closed with a birdie to follow his second-round 59 with a 67. He played in the final group with Johnson, just like he did two weeks ago on the final day of the PGA Championship.

Even so, they’re five shots behind Johnson, who is going for his second victory of the year and could go to No. 1 in the world – provided Jon Rahm doesn’t finish second – for the first time since May 2019.

“Try to make as many birdies as I can and see what happens,” English said.

Louis Oosthuizen (68) was seven shots behind, and his best hope now would appear to be moving into the top 70 who advance to the second playoff event next week at Olympia Fields south of Chicago.

Tiger Woods predicted Friday there would be low scoring in the third round, and he was right – just not from him or Rory McIlroy, a star pairing for the breakfast hour. Woods birdied the last hole for a 73. McIlroy made two triple bogeys in his round of 74. They get to play again Sunday morning.

Johnson will be going for his fifth FedEx Cup playoff victory, and third in this event on a third course. What matters more is how he finishes the season. The FedEx Cup already features some of the best players in golf – Woods, McIlroy, Vijay Singh, Justin Thomas and Jordan Spieth among them – and Johnson wants to be on that list.

Johnson set the target with four birdies in eight holes before heavy rain moved in and halted the third round for 45 minutes. It also softened a TPC Boston that was getting slightly firmer.

He came back and hit to tap-in range for birdie on the 12th, and the had the great finish.

Johnson needed a birdie on the 18th on Friday for his first 59, and said he regrets hitting driver off the tee with a shot that tumbled down a small slope into the rough. Lesson learned? Not really. With the rain, he opted for driver again, teed it low and hit this one perfect, setting up a 5-iron to the green and his long eagle putt.

Mackenzie Hughes of Dundas, Ont. had the best score among Canadians Saturday. Hughes shot a 5-under 66 to bring him to 11-under. He moved up 14 places on the leaderboard, putting him in a tie for 15th place with three other golfers. Corey Conners of Listowel, Ont. is tied for 34th place at 7-under.

NORTON, Mass. – It took a disappointing par for Scottie Scheffler to realize he was making enough birdies to have a shot at 59, and he seized on the chance Friday with four birdies over his last five holes to post the 12th sub-60 round in PGA Tour history.

For the longest time, it looked like his 59 might not even be the best of the day at The Northern Trust.

As Scheffler was signing his card, Dustin Johnson had already set off on an explosive start that put some buzz into the TPC Boston even without any spectators on the course.

Birdie. Eagle. Birdie. Eagle. Birdie.

He was 9 under through eight holes, and with two birdies to start the back nine, Johnson was 11 under through 11 holes.

And then he turned into a par machine, with only two good looks at birdie the rest of the way, and one decision he’d like to have back. Johnson hit driver on the par-5 18th into a slope of grungy grass, when a 3-wood was all he would have needed to have a mid-iron into the green. He had to lay up, hit wedge to 25 feet and two-putted for a seventh straight par.

Johnson shot a 60, had a two-shot lead, and it almost felt as though condolences were in order.

“If I hit the fairway there, it’s a pretty easy 4. But I didn’t, so shot 60,” Johnson said. “That’s OK, though. I’m pretty happy with it. Pretty happy with my position leading into the weekend.”

Johnson was at 15-under 127, two shots ahead of Scheffler and Cameron Davis (66). Scheffler finished with two putts from across the 18th green for his 12th birdie, knocking in his last putt from 4 feet.

“You don’t really get a putt for 59 often, so I was quite nervous over the putt, but that’s nothing new,” Scheffler said. “I get nervous over every shot. That’s just playing competitive golf.”

Not since the John Deere Classic in 2010 have two players had 60 or lower on the same day. That contributed to Tiger Woods feeling irritated by his pedestrian 71 that allowed him to make the cut on the number and left him 12 shots back.

“I just didn’t quite have it,” Woods said. “I was close to snapping a couple clubs today, but I didn’t, so that’s a positive.”

Scheffler, the smooth 24-year-old rookie from Texas, didn’t do hardly anything wrong. Two good wedges from tough spots around the green set up birdies early, and he kept pouring them in. That included a 6-foot par putt on the 17th hole that set up the birdie he needed for a 59.

On the 18th, his tee shot hopped out of the rough and into the first cut. From 215 yards, he wisely aimed toward the left section of the green, hit 5-iron just short and had two putts from 85 feet for a 59. He rolled the long eagle attempt about 4 feet short, went over to his bag for a swig of water while waiting his turn, and calmly rolled it in.

Scheffler was trying to make as many birdies as possible. It was only after he missed a 10-foot birdie chance on the 13th that he began to realize what he was doing.

“I was like, `Oh, man, that would have been a nice one to go in’ because I was playing really good at that point,” he said. “Kind of clicked like, `Hey, I have a chance to do something pretty cool today.”’

That makes five straight years with a 59 or better on the PGA Tour.

This stood out as the 59 that generated the least amount of excitement, not on a spectator-free course with no scoreboards in the groups. Scheffler played with Kevin Streelman and Tony Finau, and only one of them knew what was going on.

“We don’t have the sign bearers, so I brought it up to Tony on 17 green, and he had no idea,” Streelman said. “He thought it was 7 or 8 (under) and I’m like, `No, he’s like 11 right now.’ That’s the difference. There would definitely have been electricity, fans running in. He still had the pressure to step up there on 18 and make that nice up-and-down, and he played awesome.

“He played perfect golf today.”

So did Johnson. He made it look so easy that Marc Leishman, playing in his group, starting wondering about the lowest score anyone ever shot. “A 59 didn’t even seem like a question,” Leishman said.

Johnson holed a 40-foot eagle putt on No. 2. He hit driver to 4 feet for eagle on No. 4. The rest of his birdie putts were in range, mostly from 12 feet or closer. And he kept making them, until the birdies dried up quickly.

Johnson missed a 12-footer on the 13th and a 10-footer on the 17th. And then he failed to make birdie on the last hole, the easiest of the day on the TPC Boston.

A 59 is no longer the record – Furyk shot 58 at the Travelers Championship in 2016 – but it’s still considered golf’s magic number. It was the second time Scheffler shot 59 this year. He also had one during with friends in Dallas when the tour shut down for three months because of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Johnson will have to wait.

“I wanted to shoot 59. I’ve never done it,” he said.

Never?

“Not that I remember,” Johnson said, breaking into a smile before adding, “And I think I’d remember that.”

Meanwhile, the FedEx Cup playoffs ended early for some two dozen players who missed the cut and were assured of not making the top 70 who advance to the BMW Championship next week. That includes Phil Mickelson, Justin Rose, Jordan Spieth and Brooks Koepka, who withdrew before the tournament began.

GREENSBORO, N.C. – Jim Herman’s got a plan to keep his PGA Tour career thriving – play more rounds with President Donald Trump.

Whenever Herman plays golf with the president, soon after he hoists a trophy.

It happened in 2016 with his breakthrough victory at the Houston Open, again before he won the Barbasol tournament last year – and now before Herman’s improbable rally Sunday at Wyndham Championship to make the FedEx Cup playoffs.

“He’s been a big supporter of mine,” Herman said about Trump, his regular golf partner while working as an assistant professional at Trump National Bedminster in New Jersey. “I need to play golf with him a little bit more.”

Herman gave the president plenty to cheer about on the weekend, a victory even the 42-year-old didn’t see coming.

“This was out of the blue. I’ll tell you that,” Herman said.

Herman shot a 7-under 63 for a one-stroke victory over Billy Horschel, overcoming a four-stroke deficit in the final round at Sedgefield Country Club. Herman moved past Horschel with a birdie on the 71st hole.

A mutual friend passed along the president’s best wishes Saturday, Herman said. He had not heard from Trump yet. “You never know what could happen later tonight or tomorrow morning,” Herman said. “There were some rumours he was definitely watching.”

Herman finished at 21-under 259.

Horschel closed with a 65. He had a final chance to tie on the 72nd hole, but his 8-foot birdie putt slid left of the cup.

Herman got into the playoffs, jumping from 192nd to 54th in the race for the 125 spots.

Si Woo Kim, the third-round leader, had a 70 to tie for third at 18 under with Kevin Kisner (64), Webb Simpson (65) and Doc Redman (68).

Herman had two birdies and an eagle – from 59 feet – on his first five holes to catch up to Kim. Then, trailing Horschel by a stroke, Herman stuck his approach to No. 17 to just over 3 feet for a birdie. to reach 21 under. He gained the lead when Horschel missed a 12-footer for par on 16.

It was quite a week for Herman, who had three birdies over his final four holes Friday simply to make the cut. He followed that up with a career-low 61 on Saturday to get into striking distance before taking the victory.

He had come off a poor showing at the PGA Championship and couldn’t find the fairway early on here. “This is going to be a pretty quick week if we don’t get this figured out,” he told his caddie.

His next tee shot split the fairway and Herman was off and running.

Horschel looked as if he was the one to rally as he moved from three behind Kim to the lead with a birdie-eagle- birdie run on the front nine while Kim struggled with a double bogey and a bogey over his first eight holes.

Horschel had an 11-footer for birdie that didn’t fall on the 17th hole before his miss on No. 18.

“A little disappointed,” he said. “I had two good looks on the last two holes and the way I was rolling, I thought I’d make one of them.”

Kim was a birdie machine with 21 birdies and a hole in one the first three rounds. But he stumbled out of the gate and a pair of bad drives cost him his first win since The Players Championship in 2017.

He drove right into a hazzard of thick grass and, despite six people searching, could not find his shot. Kim made double bogey to fall from the top.

Two holes later, Kim would up near a cart path bridge for a bogey to fall four shots off the lead.

Roger Sloan of Merritt, B.C., was the low Canadian, 12 shots back in a tie for 31st place. Michael Glicic of Burlington, Ont., tied for 59th.

GREENSBORO, N.C. – Tom Hoge maintained a share of the lead Friday at the Wyndham Championship, this time alongside Si Woo Kim, Talor Gooch and Billy Horschel.

Hoge, tied for the first-round lead with Harold Varner III and Roger Sloan, kept in front with a steady 2-under 68 to get to 10-under par.

Hoge, whose best-ever tour finish was a second at The Greenbrier this season, was asked what it would take for his first PGA Tour win.

“There’s a lot to that question,” he said.

The answer could be as simple as regaining his first-round form when he had seven birdies, an eagle and one par. This time, Hoge was more up and down with five birdies and three bogeys.

Sloan, from Merritt, B.C., shot a 70 on Friday to drop into a tie for 10th at 8 under. Michael Gligic (69) of Burlington, Ont., was tied for 48th at 4 under. Corey Conners of Listowel, Ont., and David Hearn of Brantford, Ont., both missed the cut.

Kim, whose first tour victory came here in 2016 and made history a year later as the youngest-ever winner of The Players Championship, shot a 65 to move up.

Kim got it going on the front nine (his final nine) after starting with nine consecutive pars. He had six birdies coming in, including the final two holes to move on top.

Kim’s approach shots down the stretch were on target – his final five birdie putts were all from 12 feet or closer.

He said the rough at Sedgefield Country Club was “more sticky and deep” this year.

“It helps more to hit fairway, that’s really important,” Kim said. “That’s why I hit it more, try to focus on ,,, the fairway.”

Like Hoge, the 28-year-old Gooch is seeking his first tour victory. Like Kim, Gooch shot 65 to get into the foursome on top.

It was the first time on tour Gooch, who opened with a 65, had multiple rounds that low in the same event. He had six birdies, including two of his final three holes, to move up.

“Anytime you shoot 65, it does’t matter who, what, when, where, why, you’ve done some good,” he said.

Horschel shot 64 and had birdies on four of last six holes, including a tricky 7-footer on his final one, the ninth, to join the lead group. Horschel won the 2014 FedEx Cup and said this time of year charges him up.

“I like it when the pressure’s on and everyone’s looking at you and you need to step up and doing something special,” he said.

The four were a stroke ahead of Harris English (67) , Varner (69), Andrew Landry (65), Doc Redman (64) and British Open champ Shane Lowry, who shot a 63 to tie for Friday’s low round with Jason Kokrak.

Lowry did not get to defend his major when the tournament was cancelled due to the global pandemic. He also entered the week at 131 in FedEx Cup points, outside of the upcoming playoffs.

After a bogey on his second hole, Lowry had six birdies and an eagle to move into contention.

“Obviously, I’m outside the FedEx Cup number and out of Boston next week, so I need to keep playing some good golf and try and polish off a good week,” he said.

Kokrak was in a group of seven one shot further back along with past Wyndham champ Webb Simpson, who shot his second straight 66.

Those three strokes back included Patrick Reed (68), Paul Casey (66) and Tommy Fleetwood (64).

A pair of major champions in the thick of last week’s PGA Championship in Brooks Koepka and Justin Rose did not make the cut.

Koepka had a 70, including a triple-bogey 7 on the 10th hole, to finish at 2-over, 12 shots behind. Rose rallied to a 67 after an opening 73, but his even-par was not enough to continue.

“Not physically tired, more mentally,” said Koepka, who’s played in sixth straight tournaments with the playoffs ahead. “But I’ve got the weekend off.”