Spieth part of logjam at Northern Trust

Jordan Spieth ran off five straight birdies on the back nine Club for a 5-under 65, which allowed him to join a four-way tie for the lead in The Northern Trust.

Two swings cost Dustin Johnson the lead. It wasn’t long before Jordan Spieth and Rickie Fowler caught up to him in The Northern Trust, setting up a weekend of star power in the opening FedEx Cup playoff event.

Johnson, finally looking like the No. 1 player who looked unstoppable in the spring, appeared on the verge of building a big lead at Glen Oaks Club in Old Westbury, New York, until consecutive tee shots wound up on the wrong holes and forced him to scramble just to escape with bogey.

Fowler made up a fiveshot deficit in six holes playing alongside Johnson, making a 15-foot birdie on the last hole for a 66 to join Johnson and Jhonattan Vegas (65) atop the leaderboard. And then Spieth put together a stretch Friday afternoon reminiscent of his British Open victory, minus a shot from the driving range, in a 65.

Spieth began the back nine with five straight birdies, matching his longest birdie streak on the PGA Tour. It ended with a bogey on the par-3 15th when his tee shot rolled back into the water, but then he answered with a 40-foot birdie putt up the slope on the 16th.

Even without his best year with his best club, Spieth has won three times and captured the third leg of the Grand Slam. But his putter doesn’t leave him for long.

“Putter has been streaky for me this summer, which is better than just kind of not-so-great, which it was before that,” he said. “So I’ve been able to mentally use one or two good putts to make me feel like I’m putting awesome.

“I got on the good side of the streak on the back nine today.”

Spieth made pars from the bunkers on the last two holes to join the others at 6-under 134.

He wasn’t alone in running off a string of birdies. Matt Kuchar looked as though he might miss the cut until his caddie encourage him to try to get back to even par. Kuchar ran off four straight birdies and kept right on rolling, ending his round of 64 with eight birdies on the last 10 holes.

Kuchar and two-time Masters champion Bubba Watson (68) were one shot out of the lead.

Watson is at No. 113 in the FedEx Cup, and only the top 100 after The Northern Trust advance to the next playoff event at the TPC Boston. Watson says he won’t play the rest of the year once he is eliminating. A big finish this week could delay that another month, a nice problem to have.

Jon Rahm, who played with Johnson and Fowler, had a 68 and was two shots behind along with Justin Rose (68) and Russell Henley (72).

Chun out front

In Gee Chun took the lead in the Canadian Pacific Women’s Open in Ottawa, Ontario, and Canadian star Brooke Henderson did just enough to make the weekend at Ottawa Hunt.

Chun closed with a birdie on the par-5 ninth for her second straight 4-under 67, giving the South Korean player a two-stroke lead over Americans Mo Martin, Brittany Lincicome and Marina Alex.

Henderson, the 19-yearold fan favorite from nearby Smiths Falls, followed her opening 74 with a 69 to make the cut on the number at 1 over. Also closing on the front nine, she rebounded from a bogey on the par-3 eighth with a twoputt birdie on No. 9.

By The Associated Press

Webster leads

Defending champion Thomas Pieters missed the cut at the Made In Denmark tournament, as Steve Webster took a one-shot lead after two rounds of the European Tour event in Farso, Denmark.

Pieters, the world No. 29, was the highest-ranked player in the field, but shot 74-70 and was 2 over the expected par cut line.

Webster, who led overnight with Wade Ormsby and Matt Wallace, shot a 1-under 70 and was on 8-under overall at the Himmerland Golf & Spa Resort.