Dustin Johnson in cruise control at U.S. Open

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ATLANTA – Jordan Spieth could finish as low as 29th at this week’s TOUR Championship at East Lake and still have a mathematical chance of winning the FedExCup. Should he finish in the top 5 here, he would have what the number-crunchers call “a reasonable chance� of winning it all. And if he wins the tournament, well, you know. In a sense, though, he has already won. We are near the end of a season in which FedExCup No. 1 Spieth has further established himself as the one plus ultra of TOUR pros. He is the only player here who has won the TOUR Championship, the only one who has won the FedExCup, and the only one with more than one major title to his name (Spieth has three). He leads the vaunted high school Class of 2011—Justin Thomas, Daniel Berger, etc.—with 11 PGA TOUR wins, and it isn’t even close. “Until any of us has more accomplishments than him, he has the right and the full respect of all of us to be the [measuring stick] and leader of our class,� Justin Thomas said Tuesday. Granted, Thomas has been catching up, racking up five wins, including one major this season, compared to Spieth’s three wins with one major. And Dustin Johnson, 33, has more career wins on TOUR (16) than either of them. He is also No. 1 in the Official World Golf Ranking. But talk to players about the pecking order at East Lake—and this week it’s all about pecking order—and it is clear which player stands at the front of the line. Spieth. It’s not just that he has enjoyed two of the six best putting weeks of his young career at this 7,385-yard, par-70, when he tied for second in 2013 and won in 2015. (He loves the Bermuda greens.) And it’s not just he thrives on hilly courses and uneven lies, which favor a more feel-based approach—“similar to Augusta,� Spieth said—rather than strict adherence to swing mechanics. It’s also that Spieth has quickly built up around him a culture of winning. “The first time I met him was probably the U.S. Junior,� said Berger, who fell victim to perhaps the Shot of the Year at the Travelers Championship at TPC River Highlands, where Spieth holed out from the bunker in a playoff to win. “But I probably didn’t get to know him well until college.� (Berger went to Florida State; Spieth attended Texas.) “He was always kind of the best one.� Berger laughed. “And it’s still that way today.� Spieth got to East Lake on Monday to start work with his coach, Cameron McCormick, with whom he also powwowed with before The Open Championship at Royal Birkdale (worked out nicely.) As if Spieth’s robust 2017 season and course familiarity weren’t daunting enough, he is one of just three players, with Jon Rahm and Justin Rose, to record top-10 finishes in all three FedExCup Playoffs events. Oh, and he’s also coming off a final-round 65 at the BMW Championship. “Yeah, I was pumped to have the round I had on Sunday, a couple days ago,� Spieth said at his press conference here Tuesday. “Gained some momentum to maintain the No. 1 spot. … I felt like I got a little bit closer. I was a little off to start the week, in my striking, and I started to kind of get back to the way I was—I feel pretty close to the way I was hitting it the first two Playoffs events, and trying to dial in the putter and the short game as well.� Spieth’s Playoffs run so far (2nd, 2nd, tied for 7th) has been remarkably consistent, and of a piece with his prolific and steady career. Rose, 37, says he saw something different in Spieth after he shot a final-round 72 to tie for second at the 2014 Masters—at age 20. “I just remember how mad he was with himself,� Rose said from East Lake. “There was nothing about a moral victory, or lessons learned, or about how he had plenty of time. He was so competitive, he felt he really should’ve won, and that’s when I thought: Okay, this guy’s a little different. I mean, listen, holing out from the trap at the John Deere [Classic in 2013]. Those moments have accelerated his rise to the top. If you do it once, it could be a lucky shot, but he’s continually done that. We saw it at the Travelers Championship just this year. “He’s really reestablished himself as that great player,� Rose continued. “I mean, there’s a lot of great players out here, but like that great-great player, like Tiger Woods-great player. I think, obviously, The Open Championship was an amazing victory and an amazing watch for us seasoned pros, even. You saw someone struggling and then just flip the switch. It was cool.� It was at The Open that Spieth shot a front-nine 37, lost the lead to playing partner Matt Kuchar with a zany bogey at the 13th hole, and went 5-under the rest of the way to win. “I thought his win at the British was his best by far,� Thomas said. “I mean, the start that he got off to was just awful. For him to stay in it, to come back, to persevere though that, especially when (Kuchar) was breathing down his neck, was unbelievable.� What has Thomas tried to learn from Spieth? Perseverance. What could Spieth learn from Thomas? That one’s harder to answer. “He’s got it covered pretty well,� Thomas said. “The only thing I really have on him is I hit it farther than him; other than that, he probably wouldn’t trade any part of his game for mine.� Most impressive of all might be Spieth’s golfing mind. He methodically dissects his rounds as he’s playing them, and sometimes goes even deeper after the fact. “He’s very aware of what’s going on out on the course with regards to his emotions and his feelings and his focus,� Rose said. “He doesn’t shy away from it. He calls himself out on it.� He also studies the physical aspects of the game, and spoke Tuesday of balancing his work with McCormick with having “a very boring week off the golf course� to save energy for when he’s “into the thick of things here on the weekend, and it takes a lot out of you.� Spieth will tee off at 2 p.m. ET Thursday, alongside Thomas. They have eight victories, including two majors, between them this season. But only Spieth knows what it takes to win the TOUR Championship and the FedExCup, and how to ignore the feeling of someone pumping a ball-washer in your larynx as you contemplate the $11.4 million bonanza for winning both. There’s nothing boring about that.

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CROMWELL, Conn. – He doesn’t own the place, though Bubba Watson surely has earned enough prize money here ($4.735m) to at least qualify as a limited partner at TPC River Highlands. Short of strolling the streets of Pensacola, Fla., it’s hard to envision an environment that puts Watson in his comfort zone quite like the week of the Travelers Championship. He’s playing for the 15th time in 16 years and per usual, Watson is the center of attention, widely loved by fans who even in these days of limited attendance are following his every move with such zest that it’s impossible not to know what he’s doing. Strike that. Apparently, Watson’s four birdies in seven holes on his final nine, his pink-headed driver face that came flying off the shaft, and his 4-under 66 to push to 8-under 132 and into the clubhouse lead were thrilling stuff for seemingly everyone but one on site. The exception was playing competitor Phil Mickelson, who said he couldn’t add anything to the picture. “Not really paying attention,” he said. “I’ve had my own struggles at the time.” Oh, those crazy lefthanders and their maniacal games that were at different ends of the spectrum. Mickelson, indeed, was all over the map, “pathetic” bogeys at Nos. 1 and 2 put him at 1-over, but he birdied three of the final four holes to shoot 69 and get to 2-under, likely good enough to make the cut. Making the cut is rarely in doubt for Watson at the Travelers, not when you’ve won three times, finished second once, and top 10 on two other occasions. With back-to-back 66s, he’s now broken par in 40 of his 52 rounds at TPC River Highlands, and 17 of the scores have been 66 or lower. Can he explain the warm embrace he feels here? “When you come off the U.S. Open, everything seems easier,” he said. “Even though there is thick rough, you feel like you can play out of it. You can still move the ball forward.” He also watched his driver face go flying when it came off the shaft at the second hole. It didn’t travel 295 yards, as did his golf ball, “but once you hit, you’re focused on where the driver head goes; it didn’t reach the crowd.” Clearly, it didn’t unravel Watson (his backup driver was brought out to him two holes later), who birdied Nos. 5, 6 and 7 and didn’t even seem ruffled by a three-putt bogey at his 18th hole, the par-4 ninth. And why would he be shaken by that ending? He’s among thousands of people who cherish his presence and a golf course that feels like the warmest slippers you can imagine.

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