Live leaderboard: FedEx St. Jude Classic

KAPALUA, Hawaii (AP) — Dustin Johnson holed out with a wedge for eagle, made birdie on every par 5 and powered his way to a 7-under 66 to build a two-shot lead going into the final round of the Sentry Tournament of Champions. Coming off his lone bogey from a poor chip behind the green on the par-3 11th, Johnson faced a 65-yard shot down the hill and up the slope of the green, and it rolled out beautifully into the cup. He added three more birdies to reach 16-under 203. Brian Harman couldn’t keep pace, dropping two shots early on the back nine until a late rally for a 69 to stay within two shots. Harman began the day tied with Marc Leishman, who didn’t make a birdie until the 16th hole and wound up with a 76 to fall nine shots behind. Johnson won at Kapalua in 2013 when the wind was so strong that it took three days to start the tournament and it was reduced to 54 holes. The No. 1 player in the world with a two-shot lead on any course is daunting enough, although recent history is enough to keep anyone’s hopes alive. In his most recent PGA TOUR start, Johnson lost a six-shot lead in the final round of the World Golf Championship-HSBC Champions in Shanghai. This lead is only two shots, and there’s more than Harman who can catch him. Jon Rahm made up a lot of ground quickly with a birdie-eagle-birdie burst on the scoring holes in the middle of the back nine. A final birdie gave the explosive Spaniard a 66 and left him within range at four shots behind. Johnson and Rahm have a little history. Rahm nearly chased him down in Mexico City last year in the WGC-Mexico Championship, and then three weeks later pushed him to the 18th hole in the final of WGC-Dell Technologies Match Play, which turned out to be Johnson’s third straight victory. Rahm loves being in the mix with Johnson, even if the outcome hasn’t gone in his favor. “Hopefully, I can play good down the stretch like I’ve been doing, just start a little better on the front nine,” Rahm said. He did most of his damage on the three-hole stretch on the back nine where birdies are available. He just missed the reachable 14th and chipped to a foot for birdie, then hit his second shot on the par-5 15th to 8 feet for eagle, and holed a tricky 10-foot putt on the 16th. Rahm will play in the penultimate group with Rickie Fowler, who shot a 68 to reach 11-under 208. Jason Dufner shot 69 and joined Fowler five shots behind. Defending champion Justin Thomas spent more time with his father than he planned. Jimmy Johnson, his regular caddie, had a significant setback with his foot and will have to be in a protective boot for the next month. Thomas put his father to work. He had a pair of double bogeys over the last four holes, sandwiched between birdies, shot 75 and was 18 shots behind. Jordan Spieth played with Rahm and never got much going in his round of 70, leaving him too far back. Harman qualified for the Sentry Tournament of Champions by making a 30-foot birdie putt on the final hole to win the Wells Fargo Championship and avoid a playoff with Johnson and Pat Perez. “I can’t control what Dustin does. He’s a fabulous player,” Harman said. “He’s going to be really hard to beat tomorrow, but trying to do something I’m not capable of is not the way to do it.” Johnson can do a lot on the Plantation Course. This was his 20th time out of 30 rounds to shoot in the 60s, and while his chip down the hill on the 12th for eagle was key, it was his driving in the wind — at his back or his face — that kept him out of trouble for much of the day. He will be going for his 17th victory on the PGA TOUR dating to his rookie season 10 years. Johnson has failed to win just one year during his career, in 2014.

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NASSAU, Bahamas – Justin Thomas has been sporting sunglasses at the Hero World Challenge this week, but he’s not taking a page from Phil Mickelson. As it turns out, Thomas underwent LASIK surgery a week and a half ago, and he’s trying to protect his eyes in the bright sunshine at Albany Golf Club. “Yeah, I’ve been wanting to do it for a while,” Thomas said after shooting a 5-under 67 in the first round at the Hero, where he trails co-leaders Abraham Ancer, Daniel Berger and Rory McIlroy by one. “It finally just worked out with the schedule to get it done. “That’s why I keep walking around with the sunglasses,” he continued. “I don’t wear those too often, just trying to protect the eyes.” (He normally wears contact lenses.) “Yeah, it was nice to get that done a week and a half ago and try to put it to the test here this week.” If Thursday was a test, he earned a decent grade. He birdied the 14th, 15th and 16th holes to take the outright lead at 7 under before a hiccup at the last, where he made double bogey to slip into a tie for second with playing partner Brooks Koepka and Webb Simpson. Thomas is coming off a third-place finish at the World Wide Technology Championship at Mayakoba, Mexico, and is 32nd in the FedExCup and sixth in the Official World Golf Ranking. He finished fourth in the FedExCup last season, with seven top-10 finishes, including a win at THE PLAYERS Championship, despite finishing outside the top 100 in Strokes Gained: Putting. As for his bloodshot eyes Thursday, Thomas said they didn’t hurt. “They look terrible,” he said, “but they feel fine. They’re just a little dry.”

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