Johnson, Chappell tied for Tour Championship lead

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 East Lake.

And it’s why the final round of the PGA Tour season has more scenarios than expected.

Johnson recovered with a birdie from the bunker on the par-5 18th for a 1-under-par 69, giving him a share of the lead with Kevin Chappell (68) going into the last 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 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 last 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 the FedEx Cup.

Johnson led by as many as four shots when he ran off three straight birdies on the front nine. He had a three-putt 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 the powerful Johnson couldn’t advance more than about 135 yards.

Then the 17th hole reshaped the tournament.

Johnson tried to played a fade from a flyer lie in the rough, and the ball came out high and hit a branch, leaving him in more rough about 60 yards short of the green. He put that in the bunker, blasted out to 6 feet and missed the putt to make double bogey.

Chappell rolled in a 10-foot birdie putt for a three-shot swing on the hole and suddenly had the lead, although Johnson caught him with the final birdie. They were at 8-under 202. Chappell, a runner-up three times this season who has never won on the PGA Tour, has made only one bogey in 54 holes this week and knows he isn’t favored.

“I’ve always kind of been the underdog, so it’s a role I’m comfortable in,” Chappell said.

OTHER EVENTS

Nationwide Children’s Hospital Championship at Columbus, Ohio: Martin Flores birdied five of the last seven holes for a 5-under 66 and a three-stroke lead in the Web.com Tour Finals event.

Already guaranteed a PGA Tour card with a fifth-place finish on the Web.com Tour’s regular-season money list, the 34-year-old Flores rebounded from a bogey on No. 11 with birdies on the next four holes and closed with a birdie on 18. He had a 13-under 200 total on Ohio State’s Scarlet Course.

Tag Ridings was second after a 69.

Bear Mountain Championship at Victoria, British Columbia: Scott McCarron eagled the par5 12th and shot a 5-under 66 to take a two-stroke lead in the PGA Tour Champions event.

The 51-year-old McCarron made an 8-foot putt for the eagle and added a birdie on the par-3 16th in chilly, overcast conditions.

McCarron had a 14-under 128 total after shooting a courserecord 62 on Friday.

Doug Garwood was second after a 66.