Tiger Woods charges to lead in PGA season debut

Dustin Johnson pulls away from the field (and his closest pursuer in the FedExCup) with a final-round 66 to capture his 19th PGA TOUR title at the RBC Canadian Open at Glen Abbey. Welcome to the Monday Finish, where Johnson, 34, won for the 10th time in his last 43 starts to maintain the pole position in the FedExCup, going 527 points ahead of second-place Justin Thomas. FIVE OBSERVATIONS 1. Johnson was a ball-striking machine. When he is putting well enough, Johnson crushes the field with his tee-to-green game, and such was the case yet again at Glen Abbey. One week after missing the cut by three at The Open Championship at Carnoustie, Johnson buckled down on his short game and it paid dividends. “I just did not score very well at Carnoustie at all,â€� Johnson said. “I didn’t putt good. I just scored really badly. But I hit the ball — I felt like I hit the ball plenty good enough to be under par after two days, and I was 5-over or something. It was just bad scoring.â€� He had to clean up his putting, which meant working at it on the practice green. Job done. “Started rolling the putter a lot better here this week,â€� he said. “You know, really, really hit the ball well all four days.â€� You can say that again. Johnson averaged 318.5 yards off the tee, which tied for first in driving distance, and hit 57 of 72 greens in regulation, also tied for first for the week. And he feasted on the par 5s, making three eagles and going 12 under on those holes. 2. Canada adopted DJ as one of their own. The famous/infamous streak continues: No Canadian has won the RBC Canadian Open since Pat Fletcher in 1954. It was some consolation, then, that the winner had at least an ancillary connection to the Great White North. He felt, he said, “like an honorary Canadian.â€� The reason: Canadian hockey great Wayne Gretzky, father of Paulina, Johnson’s fiancé. “It definitely helps,â€� Johnson said. “I get a lot of fans that pull for Wayne, they pull for me.â€� 3. Bradley’s mini-revival continues. It hasn’t been easy for Keegan Bradley since the anchoring ban took effect Jan. 1, 2016, but his winless streak goes back even further. At the RBC Canadian Open he was making his 157th start since his last win, at the 2012 World Golf Championships-Bridgestone Invitational. But things are looking up. In the process of shooting a final-round, 8-under 64, Bradley holed out for eagle from 151 yards at the par-4 ninth hole. He became the first player since Derek Lamely in 2011 to record five eagles in a single stroke-play event on TOUR, and moved from 52nd to 44th in the FedExCup. “It’s probably my most tidy short game/putting tournament since I switched away from the belly putter,â€� said Bradley, who along with Harold Varner III shot one of only two bogey-free rounds Sunday. “So really big step forward for me, and it’s so fun to be able to play with a chance to win. It’s just something that I love, and it was fun this week.â€� 4. Hughes gave Canada hope. For the second straight year, Mackenzie Hughes (68, T8) won the Rivermead Cup as low Canadian. He threw a charge into the home crowd with a big front nine (32), but as was the case all week he couldn’t capitalize on the par-5 holes on the back (36). “Talking to me right now, I would say I’m a little disappointed,â€� Hughes said. “Just because right at the end there, if I could have — those par-5s coming in, they were both playing downwind, and if you’re out here and playing with your buddies, you’d probably birdie them both. More tough when there is pressure. But, yeah, overall very satisfied with the week.â€� Hughes birdied only one par 5 in the final round, the 13th hole. He played the holes in only 1 under in Round 1 and even in Round 2 before finally taking advantage in the third round, going 4 under. For the week, he was only 6 under on the par 5s, making him six shots worse than Johnson on those holes alone. At 15 under total, Hughes finished eight behind the winner. It was his first top-10 finish on TOUR since the 2017 AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am. 5. An’s T2 finish had silver lining. Byeong Hun An, a playoff runner-up to Bryson DeChambeau at the Memorial Tournament presented by Nationwide earlier this season, was admittedly not at his best as he shot a final-round 69 at Glen Abbey to finish T2 with Whee Kim (69), three back. But An moved from 61st to 40th in the Official World Golf Ranking, and he was headed for this week’s elite, 73-player World Golf Championships-Bridgestone Invitational in Akron, Ohio. He also kept his sense of humor. “I had a tough start, and I bogeyed the second hole, which is probably a birdie hole for most of the guys,â€� An said. “But I found it hard to shoot 3 under today, and Dustin played it great today. I think he’s pretty good at golf.â€� FIVE INSIGHTS 1. Johnson became the first since Tiger Woods (’05-’09) and the 21st in TOUR history to collect at least three wins in three straight seasons. He is now 7-for-15 at converting a 54-hole lead/co-lead into a victory. He has won by a combined 17 strokes in three wins this season: Sentry Tournament of Champions by eight, FedEx St. Jude Classic by six, RBC Canadian by three. 2. Johnson led the field in Strokes Gained: Off-the-Tee (+1.884), and was fourth in SG: Approach-the-Green (+1.452), accounting for a combined 81 percent of his total Strokes Gained against the field. He was 33rd in SG: Around-the-Green (+.220) and 29th in SG: Putting (+.557). 3. Just 15 years after his dad, Bob, won the 2003 RBC Canadian Open, Kevin Tway took a share of the 54-hole lead into Sunday. He was trying to make the Tway tandem just the 10th father-son duo in history to win on TOUR, but things went awry in the final round as Kevin shot 76. On the bright side, his T17 finish still moved him from 99th to 91st in the FedExCup. 4. The front is generally regarded as the tougher nine at Glen Abbey, what with three of the course’s par 5s on the back. But England’s Tommy Fleetwood (T6), in his first RBC Canadian start, took that to a new level, playing the front nine in 4 over par and the back nine in 20 under. 5. Brandt Snedeker (67, T8) won the RBC Canadian in 2013, so it figures he would excel at Glen Abbey. Still, this was only his third top-10 finish this season. As he said afterward, it came at a good time, as he moved from 90th to 77th in the FedExCup. That puts him in a good spot to make at least the first two FedExCup Playoffs events. He won the whole thing in 2012.

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Check out the current field for this season’s THE NORTHERN TRUST as of Aug. 17. HOW THEY QUALIFIED Top 125 FedExCup Points Dustin Johnson Justin Thomas Brooks Koepka Justin Rose Bubba Watson Jason Day Francesco Molinari Bryson DeChambeau Patrick Reed Phil Mickelson Tony Finau Webb Simpson Jon Rahm Patrick Cantlay Patton Kizzire Paul Casey Kyle Stanley Kevin Na Tiger Woods Marc Leishman Tommy Fleetwood Pat Perez Andrew Landry Chesson Hadley Aaron Wise Xander Schauffele Luke List Austin Cook Brian Harman Gary Woodland Ian Poulter Andrew Putnam Chez Reavie Brendan Steele Alex Noren Kevin Kisner Beau Hossler Jordan Spieth Ryan Armour Byeong Hun An Billy Horschel Emiliano Grillo Si Woo Kim Charles Howell III Keegan Bradley J.J. Spaun Zach Johnson Henrik Stenson Cameron Smith Scott Piercy Brian Gay Whee Kim Stewart Cink Ted Potter, Jr. Rafa Cabrera Bello Jimmy Walker Ryan Moore Chris Kirk Jason Kokrak Matt Kuchar Joel Dahmen Michael Kim Kevin Streelman Keith Mitchell J.B. Holmes Adam Hadwin Kelly Kraft Adam Scott Louis Oosthuizen Troy Merritt Satoshi Kodaira Kevin Chappell James Hahn Peter Uihlein Brice Garnett Branden Grace Russell Knox Brandt Snedeker Russell Henley Ollie Schniederjans Daniel Berger Abraham Ancer Anirban Lahiri Jason Dufner Tom Hoge Hideki Matsuyama Tyrrell Hatton Jamie Lovemark Brandon Harkins Charl Schwartzel Kevin Tway Rory Sabbatini Charley Hoffman Trey Mullinax Alex Cejka Ryan Palmer Richy Werenski Nick Watney John Huh Sung Kang Scott Stallings Harold Varner III Tyler Duncan Danny Lee Cheng Tsung Pan J.T. Poston Bronson Burgoon Vaughn Taylor William McGirt Grayson Murray Martin Laird Sam Ryder Ryan Blaum Brian Stuard Scott Brown Sean O’Hair Sam Saunders Bud Cauley Jhonattan Vegas Seamus Power Martin Piller Tyrone Van Aswegen

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