8 birdies put Johnson on top
Former Longhorn Scheffler, ex-Aggie Champ one stroke back heading into final round
SAN FRANCISCO — On a gray, breezy Saturday at Harding Park, the golf gods deftly did their part to set up a major Sunday bubbling with intriguing possibilities. Dustin Johnson leads the PGA Championship, but Brooks Koepka and several other marquee players stand within striking distance.
Big-name leader? Johnson, hovering.
Northern California angle? Cameron Champ and Collin Morikawa, rising.
Two-time defending champion? Brooks Koepka, persevering.
Bulked-up talk of 2020? Bryson DeChambeau, surging.
More major winners? Jason Day and Justin Rose, lurking.
Sunday’s final round of the 102nd PGA Championship, the first major in Harding’s long and lively history, shapes up as compelling on many levels. It also comes with an unprecedented twist: no raucous soundtrack, given the absence of spectators because of the coronavirus pandemic.
“It’s going to feel completely different than any one we’ve ever played,” Koepka said of the final round. “I’m looking forward to it. It should be a fun shootout.”
First, the details: Johnson, a 21-time PGA Tour winner with only one major title, shot 65 on Saturday to take the lead at 9-under-par. That put him one stroke ahead of former Texas A&M golfer Champ (67) and former UT standout Scottie Scheffler (65).
Koepka (69), Morikawa (65) and Paul Casey (68) lingered two shots back.
But the pack of contenders heading into Sunday runs even deeper. Eleven players trail Johnson by three shots or fewer, including DeChambeau, Day, Rose, Tony Finau, Tommy Fleetwood and Daniel Berger (all at 6 under).
Five more players are four shots back. That includes third-round leader Li Haotong — who suffered a signature San Francisco setback on No. 13, where his tee shot on vanished into a cypress tree — and two potential stars in Xander Schauffele and Matthew Wolff.
So the stage is set for golf ’s first major-championship Sunday in 13 months, since the British Open in July 2019. And the race for home starts with Johnson, an uber-athletic 36-year-old who brings abundant scar tissue in the game’s marquee events.
He won the 2016 U.S. Open at Oakmont, outside Pittsburgh, but he’s known as much for his major missteps. Beyond his lone victory, Johnson has finished in the top five of a major no fewer than eight times.
The cynic says: His pratfalls include a final-round 82 in the 2010 U.S. Open at Pebble Beach and a 72nd-hole bunker mishap two months later in the PGA Championship. Then again: That happened 10 years ago, and Johnson is long overdue for his second major triumph.
“I have been out here a while now,” he said after making eight birdies Saturday. “I’ve been in contention a lot, and I got it done a lot of times. Tomorrow, it’s no different.”
His biggest challenge Sunday could come from Koepka, a much more reliable closer in these settings. Koepka has four majors in the past three years, including the PGA in 2018 and ’19, and is trying to become the first player since 1956 to win the same major three straight years.
As he chases history, Champ and Morikawa eye a big breakthrough. Champ, 25, grew up in Sacramento and routinely hits the ball into distant galaxies. He leads the field at Harding Park in strokes gained off the tee and driving distance (319.1 average).
Champ also brings a comfort level, given his upbringing on Northern California courses. Not coincidentally, perhaps, he won last year’s Safeway Open at Silverado Resort in Napa.
“I played a lot of golf down here in junior events and the state amateur,” Champ said. “Also, this has similar weather conditions as Monterey, where I’ve played a lot, so I’m definitely used to that.”
Then there’s Morikawa, less than 15 months removed from his Cal graduation. He’s already skyrocketed to No. 12 in the world, thanks to two victories and a barrage of high finishes, and now he has a great chance to win his first major.
Morikawa, 23, clearly impressed Adam Scott on Saturday. They played together, and Scott watched Morikawa make three consecutive birdies late in his round, on Nos. 15-16-17, to zoom up the leaderboard.
“He played the kind of round today that I woke up thinking I’d like to play,” Scott said. “He was in complete control of all parts of his game. … I wouldn’t be surprised if he goes out (Sunday) and shoots another 65.”