Hideki Matsuyama, of Japan, watches his shot off the second tee during the first round of the BMW Championship golf tournament at Crooked Stick Golf Club in Carmel, Ind., Thursday, Sept. 8, 2016.
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Johnson collected two eagles, holing a 15-yard bunker shot at the par-five ninth and sinking a 25-foot putt at the 15th en route to his sizzling score at Crooked Stick in Carmel.
After a shooting a solid 68 on Saturday, Johnson holds a three-stroke lead at the BMW Championship at Crooked Stick.
Spieth’s first hole out of the day came on the par-4 2nd hole.
Holmes, who began the week 42nd in the FedExCup standings, also posted a 68 to stay within three of the lead, as Castro closed a two-over 74 to drop five off the pace. Casey, coming off a runner-up finish on Labor Day at the TPC Boston, matched two of Johnson’s birdies during his late run until he had to scramble for pars on the last two holes. Meanwhile Johnson, the US Open victor, Is the man to beat after making four birdies in the last five holes for a 68 and a three-shot lead. He is now projected to enter the top five in the FedEx Cup standings, which would allow him to control his own fate in two weeks at East Lake.
He is tied for 14th, nine shots behind co-leaders Roberto Castro and Dustin Johnson.
The top 30 players advance to Atlanta in two weeks for the season ending Tour Championship which carries an $US8.5 million tournament purse and an additional $US10 bonus to the player who tops the FedEx points standings for the season.
“I struggled with the speed early in the round”, Johnson said.
When asked about the physics involved, Johnson said, “I don’t go into that stuff – as long as it goes where I’m looking”.
He said: “I feel like I’m rolling it well”.
“Not much you can do”, Casey said.
If he had never won in 125 starts on the PGA Tour, had a big cushion when he finished Friday, and then saw someone like Johnson charging into the share of the lead, would he be nervous.
“We had a front row seat for something very special, and I’ll get a front row seat for it tomorrow”, Casey said.
MOVERS: J.B. Holmes shot a 65 despite a bogey on the last hole. With respect to Hazeltine, U.S. captain Davis Love III will announce three of his four captain’s picks on Monday. He only cared about two tournaments this year – the Olympics and the Ryder Cup.
But they finished before Johnson was done making birdies, and both were seven shots behind.
Castro was among the 70 who advanced to the third FedEx Cup playoff event.
By the end of the day, U.S. Open champion Dustin Johnson had set the course record at 63 and was tied for the lead. That could go a long way toward winning PGA Tour player of the year.
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BOUNCING BACK: Brian Harman was No. 67 in the FedEx Cup last week and looked like he might lock up a spot in the Tour Championship when he was in the final group at the Deutsche Bank Championship, three shots behind Paul Casey.
