Johnson plays like No. 1, seizes control
AUGUSTA, Ga. – Even without spectators in November, the Masters promised to deliver more drama with 10 players separated by a single shot going into a weekend filled with possibilities.
And then Dustin Johnson turned it into a one-man 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 he was 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 Collin Morikawa.
This effort was master class. Johnson used putter from above a slope to the right of the 18th green to 5 feet and holed that for a par to cap off another bogeyfree round and reach 16-under 200. That ties the record set by Jordan Spieth in 2015, when he went on to a four-shot victory over Justin Rose and Phil Mickelson.
Not all the players chasing Johnson are as familiar. Two of them are Masters rookies.
Sungjae Im, the supreme ball-striker from South Korea who won his first PGA Tour title two weeks before the COVID-19 pandemic shut down golf in the spring, 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.
Smith opened with 12 pars before running off three straight birdies and scrambling his way home to a 69.
Justin Thomas and Jon Rahm had their chances only to make untimely mistakes. Rahm nearly topped is second shot on the par-5 eighth and hit his next one off a tree and into the bushes on his way to a double bogey. Thomas sailed his second shot over the 15th green and into the water, making bogey on a par 5 where he was hoping to make up ground.
Both bogeyed the 18th hole. Thomas shot 71, Rahm had a 72.
Asked to describe his day, Rahm didn’t mince words.
“Seriously? How would I describe? Pretty awful,” he said.
Starting times for the final round have been moved up to finish by 3 p.m. so CBS can honor its NFL contract, and it will be threesomes off both tees. And just like all week, and all year, there will be no roars to add to the pressure.
Defending champion Tiger Woods will stick around Sunday to present the green jacket, and he’ll have to leave his at Augusta National until he returns.
Woods was 4 under through 10 holes to start the Masters, and he picked up only one more shot over the next 44 holes. He finished off a 71 in the second round, had a 72 in the third round and was 11 shots behind.
It likely didn’t help the 44-year-old Woods to go 26 holes on soft turf of a hilly course.
“It’s just part of the deal,” he said. “If you have long days like this, I’m going to get a little bit sore, which I definitely am.”