The world’s No. 1 player barely made it through the opening round when his back locked up on him and he considered pulling out.
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Now Johnson will try and replicate something else only Woods has done: Win the Tour Championship as the No. 1 player in the FedEx Cup points race going into the final event.
Johnson is three shots clear of Englishman Paul Casey (68) with JB Holmes (68) sitting third at 14-under.
Defending champion and world No1 Jason Day was forced to withdraw after incurring a back injury on the ninth tee.
“I couldn’t tell you in the last four years at any point in time how many points I’ve had”, he said, per Steve Hummer of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution. There’s quite a few things that I’m going to go home this week and work on.
Day was leading for the Vardon Trophy as the season low scorer but is now ineligible due to the withdrawal.
“Ran into a buzz saw”, Casey said after a 67 to finish runner-up in a FedEx Cup playoff event for the second straight week.
Charl Schwartzel closed with a 64 and got the 30th spot to advance to the FedEx Cup finale at the Tour Championship.
Sept 11 Dustin Johnson recovered from a faltering start in the final round, roaring back to clinch a three-stroke victory at the BMW Championship in IN on Sunday.
“I told myself the last two weeks really to play like I had nothing to lose, and to make a bunch of birdies is a good way to start”, Castro said.
J.B. Holmes watches his shot off the tee of the 17th hole during the third round of the BMW Championship golf tournament at Crooked Stick Golf Club in Carmel, Ind., Saturday, Sept. 10, 2016.
Eighteen birdies and one eagle putt later, Johnson was at 18-under 198 and closing in on his third victory of the year.
The 2013 Masters champ has already finished in the top-five in the first two FedEx Cup playoffs and can do likewise at Crooked Stick.
Asked if this summer is the best he has ever played, once again Johnson did not overthink it.
Big-hitter Johnson has plundered the par-fives, playing them in 11-under, and his length has become an even more valuable weapon on a course softened all week by heavy rain. “I don’t think it’s anything that he hasn’t dealt with before”, said Day’s manager Bud Martin.
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The top 30 players in the standings will now fight it out at the Tour Championship in Atlanta on 22-25 September for the $10m (£7.54m) winner’s prize. 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.
