No. 1 Johnson seizes command at PGA Tour Championship
Dustin Johnson seized a five-stroke lead after Sunday's third round of the US PGA Tour Championship.
WASHINGTON (AFP) - World number one Dustin Johnson rediscovered his driving form to fire a six-under par 64 and seize a five-stroke lead after Sunday s third round of the US PGA Tour Championship.
The 36-year-old American is chasing his first PGA playoff crown and third victory since the tour returned from a three-month coronavirus shutdown in June, standing on 19-under after 54 holes at East Lake in Atlanta.
"I m playing well. The game is in good form," Johnson said. "Tomorrow I control my own destiny. If I go out and shoot a good score, I ll be hard to beat."
Johnson found 11 fairways on Sunday, blasting his tee shots beyond 300 yards to set up seven birdies, after matching a career low Saturday despite finding only two fairways to stand last in driving accuracy.
"I was just a little off with the swing. It was a pretty easy fix and obviously drove it a lot better," Johnson said. "I just worked on the setup and my start lines a little bit better. The shape was there. I needed to execute.
"I was practically hitting it on a string."
Johnson, a 22-time PGA winner, could become the first overall point leader since 2009 to win the season-ending showdown for a $15 million (12.6 million euro) playoff prize.
He began the week on 10-under thanks to his season points edge. Spain s second-ranked Jon Rahm was next on 8-under with third-ranked Justin Thomas on 7-under and others up to 10 shots adrift in the staggered start system.
PGA Championship runner-up Johnson, who won two weeks ago in Boston and lost a playoff last week to Rahm, has his fourth consecutive 54-hole lead -- the first player with such a streak since Tiger Woods in 1999 -- with compatriots Thomas and Xander Schauffele second on 14-under.
"It s hard to force it here," said Schauffele. "You have to let the birdies come to you. I m going to be as patient as possible to fight back."
Rahm was another stroke back after shooting 66 following a second-round 74.
"I m going to have to shoot 5- or 6- under and have him have a bad day," Rahm said. "That s a lot of shots to make up."
PGA Championship winner Collin Morikawa holed out a 47-foot bunker shot to open with a birdie and birdied five of the last seven holes to stand fifth on 12-under.
Fellow American Daniel Berger, who birdied the last three holes to shoot 64, was sixth on 10-under alongside South Korea s Im Sung-jae, who began the day one stroke behind Johnson but shot 72.
Johnson began Sunday with a one-shot lead on Im and pulled away quickly, his 312-yard opening drive into the middle of the fairway setting a tone for the day.
A birdie at the third, after dropping his approach inside five feet, put Johnson on 14-under and ahead by three shots, Im falling back with three consecutive bogeys.
Thomas charged after a bogey at four and a 30-foot par putt at five with an eagle at the par-5 sixth, blasting out of the rough from 20 feet into the hole, and a birdie at seven from just inside 10 feet to reach 13-under, one off the lead.
Johnson dropped his approach inches from the cup at seven and tapped in for birdie to reach 15-under.
An approach to just inside seven feet set up a birdie by Johnson at the par-3 ninth after Thomas had made bogey there, sending Johnson to the back nine at 16-under with a four-stroke advantage.
Johnson made it back-to-back birdies and three in four holes by sinking a 20-foot birdie putt at the 10th to reach 17-under, briefly boosting his edge to five strokes.
The margin slid to three quickly as Johnson made his first bogey at the par-3 11th and Schauffele sank a birdie putt at 12 from 20 feet to reach 13-under.
Johnson, however, answered with a 24-foot birdie putt at 12 and a 16-foot birdie putt at 14 to reach 18-under and restore his five-stroke advantage.
At the par-3 15th, Johnson blasted from a bunker to five feet and saved par and parred twice more before closing with a nine-foot birdie putt, matching Thomas and Schauffele.
