Chicago: World number two Dustin Johnson, making his case for PGA Player of the Year, birdied four of the last five holes Saturday to seize a three-stroke lead after the third round of the BMW Championship.
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That’s good news and bad news for Johnson, who heads to Atlanta in the No. 1 position, with Patrick Reed, Adam Scott, Jason Day (who withdrew from the BMW on Sunday with a back issue) and Casey in the next positions. Casey made a 25-foot eagle putt on the 15th hole to briefly get within one shot, only for Johnson to make an 18-foot eagle on top of him.
Johnson answered his consecutive bogeys with a 20-foot birdie putt at the fourth, a seven-foot birdie putt at the par-5 fifth and four-foot birdie putts at seven and eight to reach 21-under, restoring his four-stroke lead over Casey.
Roberto Castro (67) finished in solo third and jumped from 53rd in the standings to 21st to be one of the top 30 to advance to The Tour Championship by Coca-Cola, the FedExCup playoff finale in two weeks.
Roberto Castro, who shared the 36-hole lead with Johnson, stumbled to a 74 to fall to fourth on 204, one stroke ahead of U.S. compatriot Matt Kuchar and Australia’s Adam Scott.
Schwartzel, Holmes and Scott were in a pack sharing fourth on 276 that also included Americans Ryan Palmer and Matt Kuchar. Bubba Watson had to settle for a 72, while Rickie Fowler shot 71 and was tied for 59th.
Sitting 10 strokes behind Johnson, Spieth would need a lot of help to get back into contention. He was ahead by a slight margin over Dustin Johnson, and Johnson was sure to pass him easily going into the final event. “It would definitely mean a lot if I win it”.
“I really didn’t make the decision until right before the first round”, Johnson said. DeChambeau, the 22-year-old former SMU player who swept the 2015 NCAA and U.S. Amateur titles, had an 8-under 202 total at Canterbury Golf Club in Beachwood, Ohio.
DeCHAMBEAU SURVIVES: Bryson DeChambeau won the Web.com Tour Finals-opening DAP Championship to wrap up a PGA Tour card for next season.
He drilled it down the middle of the fairway, hit the green, lagged a 40-foot putt to 4 feet and made it for par for a 74. “As long as it goes where I’m looking”. 126-200 in the PGA Tour’s FedEx Cup standings and non-members such as DeChambeau, who earned enough money to have placed in the top 200 had they been eligible.
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Luiten, the 2013 KLM Open champion, had the lowest round of the day with a 7-under 64.
