Woods-Mickelson ‘match’ slammed by fellow pros

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NORTON, Mass. — Dustin Johnson could have used a finish like this for a record score. The birdie-eagle ending to his round Saturday at THE NORTHERN TRUST gave him a 7-under 64 and stretched his lead to five shots in the FedExCup Playoffs opener. Johnson, coming off a remarkable day in which he was 11 under through 11 holes and finished with seven pars for a 60, pulled away from Harris English and Scottie Scheffler with a 20-foot birdie putt on the 17th and a 40-footer for eagle on the closing hole at the TPC Boston. He was at 22-under 191, his lowest 54-hole score by three shots. RELATED: Full leaderboard | Scheffler cards 59 at THE NORTHERN TRUST “I’m in a great position and like where I’m at, but I’m still going to have to go out and shoot a good score,” Johnson said. “You can go low out here and guys are going low every day, especially with the conditions we have — perfect greens, golf course is in great shape and not a lot of wind.” English had three birdies in a four-hole stretch early on the back nine and was tied for the lead when Johnson made his lone bogey of the round on the 13th hole when he failed to get up-and-down from a bunker. English, however, followed with consecutive bogeys when he missed the green well to the right of the water on the par-3 16th, and three-putted from 70 feet on the 17th. He missed a third consecutive putt from 7 feet or closer, the last one for birdie, and had to settle for a 66. Scheffler closed with a birdie to follow his second-round 59 with a 67. He played in the final group with Johnson, just like he did two weeks ago on the final day of the PGA Championship. Even so, they’re five shots behind Johnson, who is going for his second victory of the year. “Try to make as many birdies as I can and see what happens,” English said. Louis Oosthuizen (68) was seven shots behind, and his best hope now would appear to be moving into the top 70 who advance to the second FedExCup Playoffs event next week at Olympia Fields south of Chicago. Tiger Woods predicted Friday there would be low scoring in the third round, and he was right — just not from him or Rory McIlroy, a star pairing for the breakfast hour. Woods birdied the last hole for a 73. McIlroy made two triple bogeys in his round of 74. They get to play together again Sunday morning. Johnson will be going for his fifth FedExCup Playoffs victory, and third in this event on a third course. What matters more is how he finishes the season. The FedExCup trophy winners already feature some of the best players in golf — Woods, McIlroy, Vijay Singh, Justin Thomas and Jordan Spieth among them — and Johnson wants to be on that list. Johnson set the target with four birdies in eight holes before heavy rain moved in and halted the third round for 45 minutes. It also softened a TPC Boston that was getting slightly firmer. He came back and hit to tap-in range for birdie on the 12th, and the had the great finish. Johnson needed a birdie on the 18th on Friday for his first 59, and said he regrets hitting driver off the tee with a shot that tumbled down a small slope into the rough. Lesson learned? Not really. With the rain, he opted for driver again, teed it low and hit this one perfect, setting up a 5-iron to the green and his long eagle putt.

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AVONDALE, La. – New Orleans is known for fun and frivolity and for a handful of PGA TOUR stars the laid-back attitude is proving exactly what the doctor ordered to potentially rescue flagging seasons. It’s quite incredible considering the difficulty usually associated with Foursomes or alternate shot golf as it is also known. While Michael Putnam has found some form of late his partner Michael Kim has just one top 25 in 15 starts and sits 171st in the FedExCup. So for Kim to be part of a duo at 13 under par and holding a one-shot lead through 36 holes at the Zurich Classic of New Orleans is welcome to say the least. Chad Campbell is a four-time winner on the PGA TOUR including wins at big name stops like the TOUR Championship and Arnold Palmer Invitational Presented by Mastercard. But he hasn’t won in over 10 years and he sits 180th in the FedExCup with his best result in 15 starts this season being 31st. His partner, former Houston Open winner Matt Jones, sits 185th in the FedExCup this season without a top 25 finish from 11 starts. Campbell and Jones both described their season so far as “poorâ€� with “terribleâ€� results. So how have they forced their way to 11 under through two rounds to be just two back of the lead? “I think we just believe in each other. We’re both relaxed out there and very confident. If one of us hits a bad shot the other one can recover from it,â€� Campbell said. “Golf is a crazy game. Never know when it’s going to turn around.â€� Rob Oppenheim is 163rd in the FedExCup with just one top 25 this season, back in October last year. His partner Nate Lashley is 161st on the points list also with just one top-25 finish. Of course, that translates to them sitting tied third at 11 under. A shot further back from them at 10 under sits the partnership of Cody Gribble and John Peterson. Gribble has missed seven straight cuts and a T32 last October is his best season finish so far leaving him 189th in the FedExCup. He admits he’s a “streaky playerâ€� but felt this sort of golf wasn’t far off. “I’ve been on a little cold streak for a while but I’m hitting the ball so much better and I’ve put a lot of work in the game and I’m finally starting to see some results,â€� he said. Petersen is coming back from a major medical but in his four starts a T47 best at the Sony Open is his peak. He’s 214th in the FedExCup standings needing 240 points in his next four starts to gain his card. But with a new baby at home he’s not grinding over results – he’s actually quite content to take up a commercial real estate career and hang up the clubs should things not work out post his wrist injury. “I’ve been fine for about eight months now. Just haven’t played like it. My wrist is fine. I don’t have the range of mobility as I used to, but it doesn’t hurt. That’s really the only thing that mattered,â€� Peterson said. “I enjoy my time at home much more than I do my time out here; it’s not frustrating for me to miss a cut. If I make it great, if not, I’m not going to keep playing.â€� NOTABLES Kevin Kisner and Scott Brown continue to put themselves in a great position to make up for last year’s playoff loss. A solid 2-under 70 left the pair at 12 under and just one shot off the lead. Patrick Reed and Patrick Cantlay’s putting was as black as their matching outfits at times but red hot at others on Friday leaving them with five birdies but four bogeys and a 71. At 8 under they are close enough to make a charge. Bubba Watson and Matt Kuchar rebounded from an average Thursday to put up the round of the day Friday. Their 5-under 67 included slapping each other in the face numerous times. See more here. Overnight co-leaders Chez Reavie and Lucas Glover plus Chinese duo Xinjun Zhang and Zecheng Dou struggled with the switch to alternate shot. Reavie and Glover shot 75 but remain close enough at 9 under while Zhang and Dou imploded with an 80 to miss the cut. Justin Rose and Henrik Stenson, the gold and silver medal winners from the Rio Olympics, are lurking at 8 under just five-shots back. “I think we’ve done some good things out there. Don’t think we’ve had our run yet. Haven’t made any putts; we haven’t chipped in; we haven’t had a long putt fall for us; we had five bogeys,â€� Rose said. “So to be 8 under with all that going on… if we can clean all that up and get a little bit of luck and a run going on the weekend, I think we can mount a charge.â€� They are joined at 8 under by fellow European duo of Ian Poulter and Graeme McDowell. Jordan Spieth and Ryan Palmer were sailing along solidly until Spieth found water off the tee on the 17th hole and again on approach on the 18th hole. He then left a shot in a greenside bunker – from a plugged lie – for the team to finish double bogey, double bogey and miss the cut by a shot. Read more here. RoundUp: Brooks Koepka missed the cut in his return to golf from a wrist injury unable to get enough help from Marc Turnesa; Jon Rahm and Wesley Bryan won’t be around for weekend hospitality after struggling Friday; defending champions Cameron Smith and Jonas Blixt finished with back-to-back double bogeys to crash out of the tournament; Sergio Garcia and Rafa Cabrera Bello failed to go low enough to stick around; FedExCup leader Justin Thomas and Bud Cauley went under par but were unable to make up enough ground from a poor Thursday and Jim Furyk and David Duval could not keep the mojo going from Thursday, missing the weekend by a shot. QUOTABLES If we ever make an eagle it’s a double slap.I probably hit it into places Andrew never seen before. Birdies are what’s going to count tomorrow.It’s been my ring tone for three years.I left my shoe on, so they couldn’t smell my skin. SUPERLATIVES Low Round: 5-under 67 – Bubba Watson and Matt Kuchar. Easiest Hole: Par-5 7th played at 4.675 with an eagle and 33 birdies. Hardest Hole: Par-3 17th played to a 3.588 average with seven double bogeys and five others. Incredibly Billy Hurley III made an ace from 223 yards with a 5-iron. Best Shots: Hurley’s above ace is tied with Chris Paisley making a hole-in-one of his own on the 3rd hole from 221 yards. CALL OF THE DAY For play-by-play coverage of Round 3, listen from 1-6 p.m. ET Saturday on PGATOUR.COM. SHOT OF THE DAY

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