South Florida Sun-Sentinel (Sunday)
Johnson grabs hold of top spot
Even without spectators in November, theMasters promised to deliver more drama with 10 players separated by a single shot going into a weekend filled with possibilities.
And then Dustin Johnson, above, turned it into a oneman show. The No. 1 player in the world looked every bit the part Saturday, racing away from a five-way share of the lead with an explosive start —
4 under through four holes — and never letting his foot off the gas until he had a 7-under
65 and matched the 54-hole Masters record.
More importantly, Johnson had a four-shot lead.
Sunday will be the third time Johnson takes a lead into the final round of a major, along with two other majors where hewas tied for the lead. His only major was the 2016 U.S. Open when he came from behind. Most recently, he had a one-shot lead at Harding Park in the PGA Championship this summer, closed with a 68 and lost to a 64 by CollinMorikawa.
Johnson used his putter fromabove a slope to the right of the 18th green to 5 feet and holed that for a par to cap off another bogey-free round and reach 16-under 200. That ties the record set by Jordan Spieth in 2015.
Not all the players chasing Johnsonare as familiar. Twoof them areMasters rookies.
Sungjae Im of South Korea who won his first PGA Tour title two weeks before the pandemic shut down golf, birdied the last hole for 68. Abraham Ancer of Mexico saved par on the 18th for a 69. They were at 12-under 204, along with Cameron Smith of Australia.