Johnson heads into East Lake as the FedEx Cup leader, while Barclays victor Patrick Reed is second, Adam Scott is third and world No. 1 Jason Day, who withdrew from the BMW after nine holes on Sunday with a back problem, is fourth.
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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.
“I’ve got a lot of confidence in every part of my game – especially all the work I’ve put in on my wedges, which has really paid off this year – and this week a new putter that really worked”, said Johnson.
Johnson jumped to top spot on a FedEx Cup points list as the top 30 players advance to the season-finale Tour Championship in Atlanta in two weeks.
He tied Jason Day with his third victory this season, the difference being Johnson won a major.
They suggested the move was precautionary, since he was out of contention anyway and still more than likely to remain in the top five on the Fedex Cup rankings for the Tour Championship in Atlanta the week after next. The win at Crooked Stick was Johnson’s 12th of his career. Tiger Woods remains the runaway leader in that category with 18 wins.
Asked if this summer is the best he has ever played, once again Johnson did not overthink it.
Paul Casey did his best to stay with him. He is now third in the FedEx Cup standings. It’s just going where I’m looking.
“I’m not going to change anything”, he said.
“We’ll probably get an MRI just to double check”.
“The trainer is maybe thinking it’s the same type of thing that he dealt with I think at the Barclays and a year ago where he picked something up in his bus and it kind of got out of line.mBut just better safe than sorry”. A solo ninth-place finish at Crooked Stick is fine, and he has put himself in position to repeat as the Tour Championship and FedEx Cup victor in two weeks (he’s now No. 7 in the FedEx Cup).
Jason Day, who entered as the world’s No. 1 player, withdrew after eight holes with back pain, making him ineligible for the Vardon Trophy. He could still win the Tour Championship to salvage what has been a mildly disappointing year (for him), but that got slightly more hard with the T42 finish at Crooked Stick.
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“I enjoy being in the hunt and having to hit really good shots when you need to and I felt like the last few times I’ve been there I’ve hit some great golf shots to finish it off”.
