Live leaderboard: Moving day at the U.S. Open

In the final round of THE NORTHERN TRUST, Dustin Johnson and Jordan Spieth give fans a thrilling duel and a fascinating clash of styles that ends when Johnson blasts a 341-yard drive, hits a wedge inside 4 feet, and birdies the 18th hole in a playoff at Glen Oaks Club. Welcome to the Monday Finish, where the start of the FedExCup Playoffs gave fans in New York and around the world two of the most dynamic players in golf going head-to-head. FIVE OBSERVATIONS 1. We’ll see more D.J./Spieth battles. Although they have contrasting styles, Johnson and Spieth tend to play the same golf courses well. Both have won the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am (Spieth in 2017, Johnson in 2009, 2010) and the Tournament of Champions at Kapalua (Spieth in 2016, Johnson in 2013). They were headed for a playoff at the 2015 U.S. Open at Chambers Bay before Johnson’s freakish three-putt on the 72nd hole. Then came THE NORTHERN TRUST at Glen Oaks on Sunday, when the two heavyweights found themselves going toe-to-toe yet again. “It seemed 50/50,â€� Spieth said of the fans’ preferences between the two. “I think everyone wanted a fight to the end. I think the way it played out, if I had been a fan, I would have been obviously very pleased with the way this tournament went. “But you know, it’s very difficult holding a lead on a difficult golf course when the guy you’re playing with goes bogey-free and doesn’t even really sniff a bogey and shoots 4 under. You know, hats off to D.J. But no surprise, either.â€� Food for thought: Johnson and Spieth have been paired together 23 times, with Johnson (48-under par) holding a slight edge over Spieth (46 under) in relation to par in those rounds. Spieth, though, has the head-to-head edge, shooting the lower score 12 times to Johnson’s nine. 2. This wasn’t David vs. Goliath. Much has been made of Johnson’s 341-yard drive and aggressive line over the water on 18 in the playoff. He had just 95 yards left, hit wedge to 3 feet, 7 inches from the pin, and made the birdie putt. But while Johnson’s power is impressive, Spieth had some pop of his own. He averaged 302.9 yards off the tee, ranking 18th in the field in driving distance. (Johnson averaged 314.3, and was second.) In fact, Spieth said afterward he regretted not taking the same line over the water, which he believed he could have cleared, what with the wind change in the playoff. Sometimes it’s more illuminating to examine how a winner performed in what is traditionally the weakest area of his game, which in Johnson’s case is putting. At Glen Oaks, he ranked 24th in strokes gained: putting (.667), heated up on the greens over the course of his back-nine 32, and salvaged par with a 17 ½-foot par putt on the last hole of regulation. Without that burst of Spieth-like putting, the winner wouldn’t have had a chance to wow, as he so often does, with the driver. 3. Spieth did a lot with what he had. Although Spieth started with a three-shot lead, the final round could easily have turned into a walkover—for Johnson. His birdies at Nos. 9 and 10 left them tied, and signaled that Johnson’s putting was finally warming to match his red-hot tee-to-green game, which has long been a daunting (and often unmanageable) prospect for his fellow competitors. Still, Spieth fought hard despite struggling from tee to green. His double-bogey at the par-3 sixth hole was uncharacteristic of him—of the last 10 times he’d led going into the last round, he’d won nine times—and hit just 10 greens in regulation, his worst of the week. “Played well,â€� Spieth said. “Game feels good. And I recognized a couple tendencies that I got into my swing towards the end of the round that prevented me from hitting great iron shots like I did before, so I know what to work on.â€� 4. Jon Rahm looked like his old self. The new FedExCup No. 1 Johnson joked that he needed a win more than Spieth, since Johnson, who is also No. 1 in the Official World Golf Ranking, hadn’t hoisted a trophy since the World Golf Championships-Dell Technologies Match Play in late March. But they weren’t the week’s only big winners. Jon Rahm, who shot a final-round 68 to tie for third with Jhonattan Vegas, broke out of a mini-slump that saw him miss the cut at the Memorial Tournament presented by Nationwide and the U.S. Open, and finish a blah T44 at The Open and T28 at the WGC-Bridgestone. At Glen Oaks, Rahm looked more like the sensation who won the Farmers Insurance Open and rocketed up the FedExCup standings earlier this season, in just his second year as a pro. He also moved up to fifth in the FedExCup standings, an important distinction given that the top five will control their own destiny at the season-ending TOUR Championship, Sept. 21-24. “It’s been quite a long time since I had such a good tournament on the PGA TOUR,â€� said Rahm, 22, “and it’s good to be back on track.â€� 5. Jhonattan Vegas compartmentalized well. Venezuelan Vegas, who lives in Houston, shot a final-round 65, tied for third, and all but wrapped up a spot on the International Presidents Cup team that will take on the Americans at Liberty National, Sept. 28-Oct. 1. Somehow, he did all of that as Hurricane Harvey slammed the Texas coast with torrential rain and winds of over 100 mph. Vegas, who lives in The Woodlands, slightly northwest of Houston, said his wife, daughter and mother were still back there, but safe. “The main thing is the family is OK,â€� Vegas said. “I know there’s a lot of people hurting right now with the rain but you know, it’s one of those things that sometimes you have to learn to deal with and try to putt as much things behind. “There’s not much that I can do at the moment, so you know, I’m sure they are feeling a little bit better that I actually had a good day today.â€� FIVE INSIGHTS 1. The cream rose to the top. Four of the top-nine finishers at Glen Oaks started the week in the top 10 in the FedExCup standings, but, oddly, not all four moved up in the standings. The top two, Johnson and Spieth, started at fourth and third before moving to first and second, respectively. So far, so good. Rahm tied for third and went from sixth to fifth. Fine. But because of the one-two finish by Johnson and Spieth, Justin Thomas, who started the week at No. 2 in the FedExCup, actually went backward, to No. 3, with his T6 finish at Glen Oaks. Tough league. 2. Big movers were few and far between. Only three players moved from outside to inside the top 100 in the FedExCup, playing their way into this week’s Dell Technologies Championship at TPC Boston. That’s the fewest number of gate-crashers since only two played their way in at the first FedExCup Playoffs event in 2007. The three: Bubba Watson (T10) went from 113th to 72nd; Harold Varner III (T20) moved from 123rd to 91st; and David Lingmerth (T29) narrowly got through, going from 103rd to 91st. Watson, incidentally, has spent the fourth most weeks (62) inside the top five of the FedExCup standings since 2013. Johnson (88) tops the list, followed by Jimmy Walker (73) and Spieth (66). 3. DJ’s pin-seeking was statistically historic. Johnson’s proximity-to-the-hole average of 25 feet, 1 inch was not only tops in the field, and it was not just nearly 12 feet better than the field average. It also was the second-best proximity-to-the-hole average by a winner in the history of the FedExCup Playoffs, trailing only Camilo Villegas (23 feet, 10 inches at ’08 BMW Championship). 4. Cantlay’s trajectory keeps going up. Thanks to a seven-way tie for 10th, there were more than the usual number of top-10 finishers at THE NORTHERN TRUST. Patrick Cantlay, who shot from 78th to 50th in the FedExCup, was not the biggest mover in the group—Bubba Watson climbed 41 spots to 72nd—but has made the biggest strides this season. The No. 1-ranked amateur in 2011, Cantlay started the year on a major-medical extension and with more inspired play could make the TOUR Championship. 5. Spieth is still a tough front-runner. Runner-up Spieth has now converted nine of his last 11 54-hole leads to victories on the PGA TOUR, which is just under 82 percent. That’s still darn good, and approaches the gold standard in the category, Tiger Woods (92 percent). Overall, Spieth is nine of 15, or 60 percent, for his career. In 43 TOUR events this season, only 13 winners led through three rounds, a conversion rate of just 30 percent. The number would be even worse without Spieth, who accounted for three of the 13 with his victories at the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am, Travelers Championship and The Open. TOP VIDEOS 1. DJ’s drive on the first playoff hole was incredible. But the line he took? Wow. 2. This is MUST-SEE content. Rickie Fowler goes all-in for one lucky fan. 3. Texas wedge? Yup.

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It’s been some time since a Canadian has won the RBC Canadian Open. It was 1954 when Pat Fletcher hoisted the trophy, and even longer – 1914 to be exact – since a Canadian-born player won the tournament (Fletcher was born in England). But despite that lengthy drought, there has been no shortage of excellent Canadian performances on golf’s biggest stages. Between TOUR victories, generational inspiration, and Hall of Fame resumes, Canada has a strong legacy in the game. As part of our preparation for the first RBC Canadian Open in three years, let’s take a closer look at the top 10 players in the country’s history. Then we can watch the strong current crop of Canadians – including Corey Conners, Mackenzie Hughes, Nick Taylor and Adam Hadwin — compete at St. George’s Golf & Country Club. 10. Stan Leonard A three-time PGA TOUR winner, Stan Leonard was a celebrated professional who racked up 38 wins across Alberta, British Columbia, and nationally. He was six-time winner of the PGA of Canada’s national championship – which celebrates its 100th playing in 2022 – and was the low Canadian at the Canadian Open eight times. Leonard won the 1957 Greater Greensboro Open (now the Wyndham Championship), the 1958 Tournament of Champions (now the Sentry Tournament of Champions), and the 1960 Western Open. Leonard, who was inducted in into the Canadian Golf Hall of Fame in 1972, also finished inside the top 10 at the Masters three years in a row. No Canadian had accomplished that until Corey Conners did it earlier this spring. Leonard was also inducted into Canada’s Sport Hall of Fame, the BC Sports Hall of Fame, the BC Golf Hall of Fame, and the PGA of Canada Hall of Fame. 9. Al Balding Balding was a four-time winner on the PGA TOUR and his victory in 1955 at the Mayfair Inn Open was the first by a Canadian in the United States. Two years later he finished sixth on the PGA TOUR’s money list – the highest of any Canadian before or since. He also lost in three TOUR playoffs. One of those losses, at the 1964 Fresno Open Invitational, came to fellow Canadian George Knudson. Balding was a multi-time PGA of Canada champion and won the World Cup alongside Knudson in 1968. His best result at a major was a T8 at The Open Championship. He backed that up with another top-10 finish the next year. Balding was inducted into Canada’s Sport Hall of Fame in 1968, the Ontario Golf Hall of Fame in 2000, the PGA of Canada Hall of Fame in 2014, and Canada’s Golf Hall of Fame in 1985. 8. Stephen Ames Ames was born in Trinidad & Tobago – his grandmother was a champion golfer in his native country – but became a Canadian citizen in 2005. Ames turned professional in 1987 and has won on every TOUR level. His four wins on the PGA TOUR was highlighted by his victory at the 2006 PLAYERS Championship. “This is big,” said Ames at the time. “Forty-eight or 49 of the top 50 players were playing? I beat the top players in the world this week.” Ames, who won on the Korn Ferry Tour and the DP World Tour before notching his first TOUR title, would go on to win twice more on the PGA TOUR (the Children’s Miracle Network Classics in both 2007 and 2009). He’s also a two-time winner on PGA TOUR Champions. Ames had six top-10 finishes at majors in his career and was inducted into the Canadian Golf Hall of Fame in 2014. 7. Moe Norman Tiger Woods once said Norman (and Ben Hogan) were the only two golfers in history who have truly “owned” their swings. Sam Snead said Norman was golf’s greatest striker of the ball. The accolades about Norman’s ball-striking prowess continued until his death in 2004, but not before he racked up 55 wins on the old Canadian Tour, the PGA of Canada, and more. He was also the Canadian Men’s Amateur Champion in 1955 and 1956. Norman played 27 events on TOUR (his highest finish was a fourth-place result at the New Orleans Open in 1959) along with five on PGA TOUR Champions. He made 25 of 27 cuts on TOUR and made two starts at the Masters. He was inducted into the Canadian Golf Hall of Fame in 1995 and Canada’s Sport Hall of Fame in 2006. Norman’s idiosyncrasies – many attribute it to not receiving proper medical treatment after a car accident when he was 5 or to an autism spectrum disorder – may have caused his TOUR career to be short, but his return to his native Ontario saw him become one of the most beloved characters in the country’s golf history. 6. Lorie Kane Kane was a celebrated youngster growing up on Prince Edward Island, wining the PEI Junior Girls’ Championship twice and the province’s Women’s Amateur nine times. She played basketball at Acadia University as well before turning professional in golf in 1993 and earning LPGA Tour status three years later. She captured the PGA of Canada’s Women’s Championship each year from 1996-1999 and again in 2001 – the year after she won three times on the LPGA Tour. Kane’s 2000 campaign on the LPGA Tour saw her win the Michelob Light Classic, the New Albany Golf Classic, and the Mizuno Classic. Kane, who also has 14 career runner-up finishes on the LPGA Tour, was the second Canadian in the LPGA Tour’s history to have a multiple win season and her three-win campaign saw her win the Canadian Female Athlete of the Year title. Kane’s off-course accolades are numerous. She was inducted into the Canadian Golf Hall of Fame in 2015, Canada’s Sport Hall of Fame in 2021, and was named to the Order of Canada (the second-highest honor for a civilian in Canada) in 2006. 5. Marlene Stewart Streit Streit is one of the most accomplished amateur golfers in the history of the game – regardless of country. She is the only golfer to have won the U.S., British, Australian, and Canadian Amateur Championships along with dozens of other high-level amateur events across Canada and around the world. She is the only Canadian in the World Golf Hall of Fame and the only golfer in the country’s history to be named Canada’s Athlete of the Year more than once. Streit is a four-time winner of Canada’s Female Athlete of the Year title, was given the Order of Canada, the Order of Ontario, and was inducted into Canada’s Sport Hall of Fame in 1962 – when she was only 28 years old. She showed no signs of slowing down as she’s advanced in age, either. Streit won the 2003 USGA Senior Women’s Amateur at age 69 – the oldest champion in the tournament’s history. 4. George Knudson Knudson won eight times on the PGA TOUR in an 11-year span and was the winningest Canadian in the TOUR’s history for more than three decades. His winning resume as a professional is robust – both at home and abroad – as an individual and as part of a team. He represented Canada in the World Cup nine times, winning as an individual in 1966 and with Balding as a team in 1968. Knudson had one of the silkiest swings in Canadian golf history and he wielded it to win five PGA of Canada National Championship titles and earn low Canadian honors at the Canadian Open five times. He was inducted into the Canadian Golf Hall of Fame in 1986 and Canada’s Sport Hall of Fame in 1969. 3. Sandra Post Post was the first Canadian to achieve several milestones on the LPGA Tour. She was the first Canadian to play the LPGA Tour and as a rookie, in 1968, she won a major championship (the then-LPGA Championship). She was, at the time, the youngest golfer to win a women’s major. Her young age (20 years, 20 days) would not be topped by a women’s major winner until 2007. Post would go on to win eight times on the LPGA Tour and was the first Canadian to win more than once in the same season – a feat she accomplished twice, in both 1978 and 1979. She was a celebrated junior and amateur golfer in Ontario and decided to skip college. The decision turned out to be the right one, as she won Rookie of the Year honors in her debut season. Post, who was named Canada’s Athlete of the Year in 1979, was inducted into the Canadian Golf Hall of Fame in 1988 and bestowed the Order of Canada in 2004. 2. Mike Weir Canada’s most celebrated male golfer is also responsible for inspiring the current generation of TOUR starsA. Almost every golf fan in the country can recall where they were when Weir captured the Green Jacket in 2003, becoming the first Canadian male to win a major. Weir won eight times on the PGA TOUR including a World Golf Championship and the TOUR Championship in 2000 and 2001, respectively. His Masters title came in his three-win season of 2003. That year Weir made it to third in the world and was named Canada’s Athlete of the Year. Weir played on five Presidents Cup teams and has been an assistant captain in 2017, 2019, and 2022. He received the Order of Canada in 2009 and was inducted into Canada’s Golf Hall of Fame the same year. He was inducted into Canada’s Sport Hall of Fame in 2017 and has seen a career resurgence since joining PGA TOUR Champions. He won for the first time on the over-50 circuit last year and continues to be a threat when he tees it up. 1. Brooke Henderson The only golfer on this list not to be inducted into the Canadian Golf Hall of Fame has still had the greatest career of them all. And the reason why she’s not a Hall of Famer yet? Because she’s only 24. Henderson, who has won 10 times on the LPGA Tour, is the winningest Canadian of all time on either the LPGA or PGA Tour. She’s won one major so far – the 2016 KPMG Women’s PGA Championship – along with the CP Women’s Open in 2018, becoming the first Canadian to win on home soil since Jocelyne Bourassa in 1973. Henderson’s amateur career peaked when she was ranked as the No.1 amateur in the world in 2014. She skipped college and turned professional, winning her first event on the LPGA Tour in 2015 by eight strokes at just 17 years old. She was named Canada’s Female Athlete of the Year in back-to-back years in 2017 and 2018, won an ESPY Award in 2019 as the ‘Best Female Golfer’ and earned the LPGA Founders Award that same year. And, well, she’s just getting started.

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