The U.S. Open champion continued the best year of his career, carding a 67 to finish at 23-under-par 265.
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The back side was mostly without drama until Johnson came to the par-5 15th with a three-shot lead over Casey.
Reigning U.S. Open champion Dustin Johnson burned rubber earlier in the week at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway.
DeCHAMBEAU SURVIVES: Bryson DeChambeau won the Web.com Tour Finals-opening DAP Championship to wrap up a PGA Tour card for next season.
“The more I practice, the more I’m in the situation, the more I know what to do and what to expect in the situations and kind of know what shots that I can hit and not to hit and I like it”, he said.
“You can’t worry about the holes you make bogey on, the only thing you can do is make birdie on the next shot”, added Johnson.
Johnson is it at another level right now. A win would also put him atop the FedExCup play-off season points standings in search of the US$10 million (S$13.59 million) bonus paid out after the Tour Championship in two weeks at Atlanta.
Jason Day withdrew from the BMW Championship after eight holes with back pain, making him ineligible for the Vardon Trophy. Reed is No. 2 in FedEx Cup points, in position to win it all with a Tour Championship victory. In the previous nine years of the FedEx Cup, no player has successfully defended the season-long title.
Any of the top-five ranked players can win the playoffs with a victory in Atlanta.
Roberto Castro, who began the third round tied for the lead, didn’t make a birdie in his round of 74 and fell six shots behind. The week off between the BMW Championship and the Tour Championship will be useful in the healing process.
Among notables to fall outside the top 30 and miss out on a chance at the $10 million jackpot were Americans Rickie Fowler and Brooks Koepka, Spaniard Sergio Garcia, and Swede Henrik Stenson.
Paul Casey: Casey has now finished runner up in each of the last two weeks and leaped ahead of McIlroy in the FedEx Cup points race.
Johnson will be one of captain Davis Love III’s players in three weeks when the USA meets Europe in the Ryder Cup at Hazeltine National Golf Club in Minnesota.
“I’m seeing the lines really well”.
“I’m not going to change anything”, Johnson said.
“There’s nothing I can do, ” Fowler said after finishing with an even-par 72; he was long gone when those on the golf course determined his fate. His mid-iron play, normally his bread and butter, “wasn’t very good” at the BMW. So, it’s going to be great. The American Ryder Cup star looks in fantastic shape after switching his putter on the eve of the tournament and anyone who took the 10-1 on offer at the start of the week is sitting pretty. Find him on Facebook and Twitter.
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Ryan Ballengee is a Yahoo Sports contributor.
