ZOZO CHAMPIONSHIP, Round 3: Leaderboard, tee times, TV times

OLD WESTBURY, N.Y. — Dustin Johnson faced long odds all day against Jordan Spieth until the longest drive led to an unlike playoff victory Sunday in THE NORTHERN TRUST. Johnson rallied from a five-shot deficit on the front nine. And on the final hole in regulation, after one of the most powerful players in golf chose to lay up from the rough, his 18-foot par putt swirled around the cup and fell in the back side for a 4-under 66 to force a sudden-death playoff. Returning to the 18th hole, Johnson felt the wind switch and took on the lake with a 341-yard tee shot — the longest of the week on that hole — that left him a lob wedge that he hit to 4 feet. Spieth, who already made his share of big putts along the back nine at Glen Oaks, hit 7-iron to the back collar and missed his 25-foot birdie putt. Johnson rolled in his short birdie putt for his fourth victory of the year. Spieth, who closed with a 69, lost for the first time in six tries when leading by at least two shots. There wasn’t much he could do except take back that tee shot into the water on the par-3 sixth hole after building a five-shot lead. Johnson played bogey-free in the final round, and played his final 29 holes at par or better. “I didn’t lose the tournament,” Spieth said. “He won it.” The opening FedExCup Playoffs event featured two of the biggest names in golf who put on an amazing show on Long Island. “I thought that was a fun show,” Spieth said. “I was hoping it wasn’t going to be that much fun.” Johnson made up a five-shot deficit in five holes, and they battled along the back nine with big shots and big moments. They were tied on the par-3 17th when both hit into a bunker, and Johnson blasted out to 4 feet with an easier shot and angle to the hole. Spieth had 18 feet for par and knocked it in, like he always seems to do. On the closing hole, Johnson showed the kind of golf I.Q. that belies his simple outlook on life. After he sliced his drive up the hill and into a nasty lie in the rough, he chose to lay up instead of trying to hammer a shot to an elevated green. But he made it pay off with a par, that got him into the playoff after Spieth lagged a 75-foot putt perfectly to get his par. They finished at 13-under 267. Johnson won for the first time since he wrenched his back during a spill down the stairs that knocked him out of the Masters and derailed his dominance in golf. He had won three straight tournaments against strong fields until that injury. “I feel like the game is finally back in form like it was before the Masters,” Johnson said. Of his 16 victories, this was the first time Johnson faced a must-make putt on the final hole, and he delivered a par putt that even Spieth thought was going to miss on the high side of the hole. THE NORTHERN TRUST never looked as though it would contain so much drama. Spieth began with a three-shot lead. He two-putted from long range for birdie on the par-5 third hole when Johnson, from closer range but putting from off the green, took three to get down for a par. And then the fifth hole felt like a dagger — Spieth poured in a 30-foot birdie putt, and Johnson missed his birdie from 8 feet. That gave Spieth a five-shot lead — no one else was closer than seven — and it seemed even larger because Johnson wasn’t making any putts. Five holes later, they were tied. Spieth’s tee shot on the next hole banged off the rock wall and into the water on the par-3 sixth, and he made double bogey. On the ninth hole, Spieth took three putts from just off the left side the green, and Johnson made a 7-foot birdie putt for another two-shot swing. Johnson began the back nine with an 8-foot birdie, and they were tied. The closest Johnson came to taking the lead was a 15-foot eagle attempt that narrowly missed. Spieth regained the lead with an 8-foot birdie on the 14th, and Johnson tied him again from 18 feet on the next hole. It was great theater, even before a crowd not nearly as large as other courses used in the rotation, and it lasted all the way until the end. No one else really had a chance. Jon Rahm ran off three straight birdies early on the back and briefly was one shot behind, though he had stronger holes ahead of him and fell back. Jhonattan Vegas was within two shots after playing the scoring holes. Otherwise, it was a matter of who finished among the top 100 in the FedExCup to move on to the TPC Boston next week for the next playoff event. Bubba Watson shot a 70 and tied for 10th, to become one of eight players to qualify for the second playoff event all 11 years of the FedExCup. David Lingmerth, who started at No. 103, overcame a 40 on the front nine for a 73 to tie for 29th and move into the top 100. Harold Varner III, not even among the top 125 going into the final regular-season event last week, made it to New York and then tied for 20th to crack the top 100. The three players who moved into the top 100 were the fewest since two advanced in 2007 when the FedExCup began.

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AUGUSTA, Ga. — Experience is supposed to be a requisite for Masters contenders, but Will Zalatoris is showing that skill trumps seasoning every time. Even in the firm conditions that reward those who’ve memorized every nook and cranny of Alister Mackenzie’s design, the 24-year-old – one of just three professionals making their Masters debut this week – finds himself in contention. Birdies on his final three holes Friday gave Zalatoris a 4-under 68 and a spot in Saturday’s final group. He’ll start the third round two shots behind Justin Rose, who followed Thursday’s incredible 65 with an even-par 72. History weighs heavy at Augusta National, the only venue that hosts a major championship on an annual basis. It can be suffocating for someone setting foot on the property for the first time but Zalatoris’ nerves have been drowned out by the gratitude he feels to be competing in the Masters just months after playing on the Korn Ferry Tour. “I wanted to be here my entire life,” he said. “Some people shy away from that, but I’m excited to be here. … There’s no reason to feel intimidated now. I made it to here.” He took a non-traditional route. Zalatoris didn’t even have a PGA TOUR card at the start of the season. His pro career got off to a rough start when he failed to advance out of the first stage of Korn Ferry Tour Q-School in his first attempt. It was an unexpected obstacle for Zalatoris, who’s been elite since junior golf. He followed in the footsteps of Jordan Spieth and Scottie Scheffler as U.S. Junior champions from Dallas. He was teammates on the 2017 Walker Cup with Collin Morikawa, Cameron Champ and Scheffler. But two years ago this week, he was ranked 1,514th in the world. He was happy just to Monday qualify for a Korn Ferry Tour event in Panama. Even a year ago, he was still hovering around 500th in the ranking. He’s been on a rapid rise ever since the Korn Ferry Tour resumed after its COVID-induced hiatus, amassing a record-tying 11 consecutive top-20 finishes on that circuit. His success on the Korn Ferry Tour earned him a spot in last year’s U.S. Open. He hasn’t been back since. A T6 finish at Winged Foot not only allowed a larger audience to observe his impeccable iron play but confirmed to Zalatoris that he could compete on the highest level. “At the U.S. Open, he told me that on the third hole is when he realized that it was just like another a tournament,” said swing coach Troy Denton. “You could tell at the beginning of this week, he had a swagger. He just believes.” Scott Fawcett, creator of the course-management system known as DECADE, has known Zalatoris since he was a teenager. “I’ve played with tons of great players and Fred Couples, when he was No. 1 in the world is the only one I’ve played with that hits it as solid as Will,” Fawcett said. “He has hit it like a top-30 ball-striker since he was a kid.” Zalatoris led the field at Winged Foot in Strokes Gained: Approach and ranks fifth in that category this season. He made a hole-in-one in the U.S. Open’s opening round and hit his tee shot on another par-3 off of a flagstick. His accurate iron play is on display again this week. Augusta National is known as a “second-shot golf course” because of the importance of placing the ball on the correction portion of the sloping putting surfaces. The spindly Zalatoris is capable of launching high approach shots that land softly on those small sections. He birdied his final three holes Friday thanks to iron shots that landed close to hole locations placed atop small plateaus. He hit his tee shot on the par-3 16th just 10 feet from the back-righ pin. His second shot to 17 was 11 feet from the hole. And then he hit a 50-degree wedge to 4 feet from the hole on 18. That final approach was the most satisfying of the day because he knew a birdie would get him into Saturday’s final group. “It’s a childhood dream to obviously be in the final group of a major on a weekend, especially here,” said Zalatoris. He was 8 years old when he attended the 2005 Masters, watching Tiger Woods hole a 40-foot birdie putt. Later that week, he was sitting with his family in their favorite Italian restaurant when Woods holed his famous chip on No. 16. The place exploded when the ball dropped, illustrating to a young Zalatoris just how important this tournament is. He grew up alongside Spieth, who finished second in his Masters debut seven years ago, and the sons of former PGA Championship winner Lanny Wadkins. He still remembers the bits of wisdom that Wadkins shared years ago, well before he was playing professional golf. “There’s little things he may not even remember telling me, how the wind affects a shot if it’s into the wind or downwind on 12,” Zalatoris said. “I think he told me that when I was 14, and I still remember it.” Now just 24, Zalatoris is proving to be a fast learner.

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