Johnson clinging to lead

Saturday’s bad round didn’t hurt overall

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, 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 oneshot 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.

Jon Rahm shot a 74, nine shots worse than his opening round and he’s four shots behind at 9 under.

Curtis Compton The Associated Press Dustin Johnson didn’t play his best golf, but is still holding a one-shot lead at the Tour Championship at East Lake Golf Club in Atlanta.