Dustin Johnson and Kevin Chappell were tied for the lead entering the final round of PGA TOUR Championship 2016 on Sunday in Atlanta, Ga.
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And worse was to come on the back nine for the US Open champion, who followed two birdies and two bogeys in a four-hole stretch from the 12th with a double bogey on the 17th.
A magnificent second shot into the par-four 16th left McIlroy with a 14-foot birdie putt, and after Moore holed a par putt of his own to keep the pressure on, the world number three rattled in the winning putt. A birdie on the 231-yard par 3 temporarily delivered some breathing room, but a double on the 17th gave Chappell the lead.
Dustin Johnson trebled his one-shot overnight lead at the Tour Championship but failed to hold on as a slow finish saw his advantage slashed by Kevin Chappell.
Three shots behind with three holes to play at the Tour Championship, McIlroy holed a pitching wedge from 137 yards for eagle that gave him the spark he needed to close with a 6-under 64 and join a three-way playoff with the FedEx Cup title riding on the outcome.
Dustin Johnson looks over the fifteenth green during the third round of the Tour Championship at East Lake Golf Club. But the California kid never flinched even when he fell behind early, and he has gone 54 holes at East Lake with only one bogey.
Rory McIlroy made a Saturday run, carding four birdies for a 66.
The two continued on the third playoff hole as McIlroy went long on the green and Moore ended up just short of the green.
“Of all the days to just kind of focus and take it one shot at a time and play a round of golf, tomorrow’s the day”, Moore said.
McIlroy fought his way back into contention with a final round 6-under 64 – tying Moore and Paul Casey for the best round of the week – to get to 12 under for the tournament and wait as Chappell finished the 72nd hole with a par, thus forcing in a three-man playoff.
“I feel my game is really coming together at the right time, and two wins in the last three feels pretty nice”.
Hideki Matsuyama was fifth at 5-under.
McIlroy had a six-foot eagle try on the first attempt down the 18th in sudden death but also lipped out the putt. I might play nine good holes in a tournament, it gets me near the lead, and it slowly goes away.
The 17th hole changed everything.
“Probably the most hard round I played this week in terms of ball control and positions that I was in”, Chappell said.
Two years ago, Billy Horschel won the final two playoff events to claim a deserving FedEx title – but there was little argument in favor of him as the best player of the season.
“I hit a couple of bad drives there coming home and on this golf course if you miss the fairways it’s very hard”, Johnson said after his round.
At the start of the month, he had not won all year on the PGA Tour.
Australian Adam Scott fired a sensational 5-under 65 in his final round of the PGA Tour season to finish on a high, climbing to a share of eighth with Jason Dufner. There’s a golf tournament going on, and I have a chance to win that.
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“I’m proud of the way I fought, ” he said. “Hopefully I can go out and play some really good golf again”.
