Four in logjam atop Trust
Two swings cost Dustin Johnson the lead. It wasn’t long before Jordan Spieth and Rickie Fowler caught up to him in The Northern Trust, setting up a weekend of star power in the opening FedEx Cup playoff event.
Johnson, finally looking like the No. 1 player who looked unstoppable in the spring, appeared on the verge of building a big lead at Glen Oaks Club in Old Westbury, N.Y., until consecutive tee shots wound up on the wrong holes and forced him to scramble just to escape with bogey.
Fowler made up a 5-shot deficit in six holes playing alongside Johnson, making a 15-foot birdie on the last hole for a 66 to join Johnson and Jhonattan Vegas (65) atop the leaderboard. And then Spieth put together a stretch reminiscent of his British Open victory, minus a shot from the driving range, in a 65.
Spieth began the back nine with five straight birdies, matching his longest birdie streak on the PGA Tour. It ended with a bogey on the par-3 15th when his tee shot rolled back into the water, but then he answered with a 40-foot birdie putt up the slope on the 16th.
Even without his best year with his best club, Spieth has won three times and captured the third leg of the Grand Slam. Spieth made pars from the bunkers on the last two holes to join the others at 6-under 134.
He wasn’t alone in running off a string of birdies. Matt Kuchar ran off four straight birdies, ending his round of 64 with eight birdies on the last 10 holes. Kuchar and two-time Masters champion Bubba Watson (68) were 1 shot out of the lead. Jon Rahm, who played with Johnson and Fowler, had a 68 and was 2 shots behind along with Justin Rose (68) and Russell Henley (72).
Seventy players made the cut at 2-over. Among those missing the cut were Hideki Matsuyama, the No. 1 seed going into the playoffs, who three-putted the last hole and missed by one . . . .
In Gee Chun took the lead in the Canadian Pacific Women’s Open in Ottawa, Ontario. Chun closed with a birdie on the par-5 ninth for her second straight 4-under 67, giving the South Korean player a 2-stroke lead over Americans Mo Martin, Brittany Lincicome and Marina Alex . .. .
Defending champion Thomas Pieters missed the cut at the Made In Denmark tournament in Farso, as Steve Webster took a 1-shot lead after two rounds of the European Tour event.
Devils sign Stafford
The New Jersey Devils signed veteran winger Drew Stafford to a one-year deal worth $800,000.
Stafford, 31, had eight goals and 13 assists last season with Winnipeg and the Bruins. The Jets traded him to the Bruins at the deadline, and he had two goals in six playoff games.
Unsigned long into free agency, Stafford took a significant pay cut from the $4.35 million he made the past two seasons.
In 725 NHL games with the Buffalo Sabres, Jets and ruins, the Milwaukee native has 183 goals and 217 assists for 400 points.
Suns draft pick out
The Phoenix Suns’ second-round pick Davon Reed out of Miami has undergone surgery to repair a torn meniscus and will be sidelined an estimated 4-6 months . . . .
Daria Gavrilova upset topseeded defending champion Agnieszka Radwanska 6-4, 6-4 to reach the Connecticut Open final in New Haven, Conn. She faces Dominika Cibulkova today in the final tuneup event before the U.S. Open . . . .
Real Salt Lake forward Ricardo Velazco was arrested on accusations he had unlawful sexual activity with a minor. Velazco was then suspended by Major League Soccer . . . .
Matteo Trentin of Italy won a sprint finish to claim the fourth stage of the Spanish Vuelta, while Chris Froome held his overall lead by two seconds.