NORTON, Mass. – Dustin Johnson could have used a finish like this for a record score. The birdie-eagle who finished his round on Saturday at The Northern Trust gave him a 7-under 64 and extended his lead to five shots in the FedEx Cup playoff opener.
Johnson, coming out of an extraordinary day of 11 under 11 holes and finishing with seven par for a 60, broke away from Harris English and Scottie Scheffler with a 20-foot birdie putt in 17th and a 40-foot for the eagle on the closing hole at TPC Boston.
He was at 22-under 191, his lowest score on 54 holes for three shots.
“I’m in a great position and I like where I am, but I’ll still have to go out and get a good score,” Johnson said. “You can go low here and the guys are going low every day, especially with the conditions we have: perfect greens, the golf course is in great shape and there isn’t much wind.”
The Englishman had three birdies in a four-hole course at the start of the secondary nine and was tied for the lead when Johnson made his lone bogey of the round on the 13th hole when he was unable to get on and off a bunker. .
The Englishman, however, followed with consecutive bogeys when he missed the green well to the right of the water on par-3 16th, and 70-foot three-putts at 17th. He missed a third consecutive putt from 7 feet or closer, his last for birdie, and had to settle for a 66.
Scheffler finished with a birdie to follow his second round 59 with a 67. He played in the final group with Johnson, just as he did two weeks ago on the final day of the PGA championship.
Even so, it’s five shots behind Johnson, who is on his way to clinch his second win of the year and could go to number 1 in the world – provided Jon Rahm doesn’t finish second – for the first time since May 2019.
“Try to do as many birdies as I can and see what happens,” English said.
The Northern Trust: Scores across the board | Full coverage
Current FedExCup points ranking
Louis Oosthuizen (68) was seven shots behind and his best hope now appears to be to advance to the top 70 advancing to the second playoff event next week at Olympia Fields south of Chicago.
Tiger Woods predicted on Friday there would be low scores in the third round, and he was right, but not from him or from Rory McIlroy, a star couple for breakfast time. Woods hit the last hole for a 73. McIlroy hit two triple bogeys in his round of 74. They’ll be able to play again on Sunday morning.
Johnson will clinch his fifth FedEx Cup playoff win and third in this event on a third course. What matters most is how the season ends. The FedEx Cup already features some of the best golfers – Woods, McIlroy, Vijay Singh, Justin Thomas and Jordan Spieth among them – and Johnson wants to be on that list.
Johnson set the goal with four birdies in eight holes before the pouring rain came and stopped the third round for 45 minutes. It also softened a Boston TPC that was getting slightly firmer.
He came back and hit for tap-in range for birdie 12, and had a great finish.
Johnson needed a birdie on Friday 18th for his first 59, and said he regrets hitting the rider off the tee with a shot that fell down a small slope in the rough. Lesson learned? Not exactly. In the rain, he opted for the rider again, scored a low shot and hit this perfect one, putting a 5-iron on the green and his long eagle putt.
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