Johnson, Chappell tied after 3 rounds
Late decision opens door for others going into final round for FedEx title
ATLANTA — Dustin Johnson had a reasonable lie in the rough and only a few pine tree branches blocking his path to the 17th green. Neither seemed like a problem until he played the wrong shot, clipped the tree and wound up with a double bogey Saturday in the Tour Championship.
It was an example of how one hole can change everything at East Lake Golf Club.
And it’s why the final round of the PGA Tour season suddenly has more scenarios than Johnson cares to consider.
Johnson recovered with a birdie from the bunker on the par-5 18th for a 1-under 69, giving him a share of the lead with Kevin Chappell (68) going into the final round that will determine who wins the Tour Championship and the FedEx Cup.
For the first time since 2009, there’s a chance it might not be the same player.
“There’s a lot of scenarios that could happen,” Johnson said. “But yeah, I’m still going to go out and try to shoot as low a score as possible.”
Johnson only has to win or finish second alone to claim the $10 million bonus as the FedEx Cup champion.
Rory McIlroy, who has gone 28 holes without a bogey at East Lake, had three birdies over his final six holes for a 66 and was two shots behind. If he were to win the Tour Championship and Johnson finished in a two-way tie for second or worse, McIlroy would claim the FedEx Cup.
“It would just be great to try to win the Tour Championship, and if the chips fall my way, then so be it,” McIlroy said.
The winner of the Tour Championship has won the FedEx Cup every year since 2009, when Phil Mickelson won the tournament and Tiger Woods won the FedEx Cup.
Johnson led by as many as four shots when he ran off three consecutive birdies on the front nine, and he really didn’t do much wrong to give up the size of that lead. He had a threeputt from 70 feet on No. 13, and missed the fairway by a few feet on the next hole, enough that his ball was buried so deep that even Johnson and his power couldn’t advance more than about 135 yards.