RANCHO MIRAGE, Calif. – Canada’s Brooke Henderson is tied for the lead after the morning wave of the first round at the LPGA Tour’s second major of the season.

Henderson, from Smiths Falls, Ont., shot a 4-under 68 on her 23rd birthday Thursday after recording birdies on four of her final eight holes at the ANA Inspiration.

“Happy with 4 under,” she said. “It’s definitely a solid start, nice way to spend your birthday, and hopefully I can just keep making some birdies and climb the leaderboard.”

After the morning wave, Henderson sat in a tie for top spot with top-ranked Danielle Kang of the United States, Yu Liu of China and Kelly Tan of Malaysia. She closed the day one stroke back of leader Nelly Korda.

Hamilton’s Alena Sharp, the only other Canadian in the field, shot a 3-over 75.

With sizzling temperatures at the course (the high was 36 C on Thursday), caddies – including Henderson’s sister Brittany – are allowed to use electric carts.

“Normally I would never agree to taking carts, but definitely under the circumstances with it being so hot out here, and I definitely felt like since the LPGA was allowing us to use them, it was definitely an advantage for us,” Brooke Henderson said. “It was nice, she was able to zoom along, get to my ball fast, calculate some numbers, really get a feel for all the conditions, and then by the time I arrived she already had everything already set out and we could discuss a little bit more specifically.”

Henderson wasn’t in top form in her first two events since the LPGA Tour returned from its COVID-19 suspension last month, missing the cut at the British Open and tying for 49th at the Arkansas Championship.

Henderson has a Canadian record nine wins on the top tour, including a major title at the 2016 KPMG Women’s PGA Championship.

In the summer of 2013, at just 15-years-old, a young golf prodigy of Smiths Falls, Ont., was entering the final round of her third LPGA Tour event. A future Canadian golf star, Brooke Henderson was paired with Canadian golf legend Lorie Kane. Walking up to the final hole of the tournament, surrounded by Canadian fans at the Manulife Financial LPGA Classic held in Waterloo, Ont., Kane grabbed Henderson’s hand.

“I remember the feeling I had when I took [Brooke] by the hand,” Kane said. “I was saying to myself, whether I said it to [Brooke], ‘you are the future’.”

Flashforward to the summer of 2020, where Henderson appears alongside Kane at the CP Women’s Leadership Summit, no longer as the rookie and the veteran, but as two Canadian women in golf paving the way for future generations of women in sports.

Kane’s gesture of grabbing her hand was a subtle act, but it’s a moment that’s stuck with Henderson all these years later.

“That was just an incredible moment for me,” Henderson said.

Listening to the Summit, it became clear that moments like these; moments of pure, genuine leadership that may not seem like much at the time, can make dramatic impacts on the lives of the people influenced by them.

On Sept. 1, a diverse panel of women in positions of leadership came together for the third annual CP Women’s Leadership Summit. This year though, things were a little different because of COVID-19. Organizers pivoted to host the event virtually to accommodate safety restrictions with in-person gatherings.

Hosted by TSN anchor Lindsay Hamilton, the goal of the event was to provide inspiring stories and a networking opportunity, while also accepting donations for the BC Children’s Hospital Foundation. While the networking component wasn’t able to flourish like it has in the past, the Summit was “a success story for us” according to Mary Beth McKenna, the assistant tournament director of the RBC Canadian Open who has co-led the event since it began three years ago.

The event was divided into four sessions, each with different women discussing their experience as leaders in their respective positions. Speakers included Canadian golfers Kane and Henderson, and Olympians Marnie McBean and Perdita Felicien, among other prominent women in leadership positions.

A three-time Olympic Gold Medalist and Canada’s chef de mission for the 2020 (though postponed to 2021) Tokyo Summer Games, McBean knows a thing or two about leadership.

Though, even McBean indicated she’s always actively learning how to be a better leader. As the Summit’s first speaker, McBean spoke about her early days with rowing teammate Kathleen Heddle, and how it wasn’t necessarily the match made in heaven their later results would make it seem.

“I actually actively worked for a long time to get into a different boat because I didn’t think Kathleen had what it took because she was introverted, she was calm and quiet,” said McBean. “I was like, well, that’s not what a champion is.”

It was encountering someone with a personality and working style different to her own that McBean said taught her an important lesson on teamwork and leadership. McBean quickly learned that welcoming “the diversity of the personalities in the boat” would be crucial to their success.

“I learned to accept that as long as I stopped trying to make Kathleen me, and I let her be her authentic self, she’s extraordinary,” McBean said.

“Leadership isn’t about meeting in the middle with people, it’s about earning trust and respect. I give 100 per cent of what I have to give, and if I’ve earned it, I’ll get 100 per cent of what the people I’m working with, who I’m leading, what they have to give,” McBean said.

The overarching message on leadership from McBean was this: humility and communication. It was a theme that seemed to find its way into separate discussions by all the speakers throughout the two-hour Summit. 

Humility and the openness to continue learning and growing was a key aspect of Olympian Perdita Felicien’s discussion on overcoming adversity and her experience as a black athlete.

“It’s lifelong learning, it’s lifelong commitment,” Felicien said on how to be an ally. “I’m also learning, I’m also figuring it out.”

Felicien said she’s had conversations with friends who are white, who’ve called or texted her to say that they want to listen and learn about being an ally.

“They want this to change. They might not know exactly how, but they are here, and they are at the table and they are deciding, ‘you know what: enough is enough’,” Felicien said.

The session prior, with Candy Ho, CEO of The Cape on Bowen Community Development and Pam Arpin, assistant vice president, customer and corporate Services at Canadian Pacific Railway (CP) focused on the importance of communication.

Arpin discussed how she worked on having successful communication with her employees at the beginning of the pandemic when CP was deemed an essential service and many employees continued working at the office.

Arpin said she focused on making sure her employees knew that she was always available despite the fact that she didn’t necessarily have the answers they were looking for. She said it was important, “because any void in communication, people are going to fill up that void with their own speculation.”

Arpin said she thinks it was a missed opportunity “if you haven’t grown as a leader through this.”

It’s that aspect of humility and the willingness to grow that both Arpin and Ho emphasized in their discussion together.

It was apparent that no matter what leadership role you’re in, from CEO to a veteran golfer, being a leader transcends it all.

“We just have to be humble, have that mindset for growth, and then no barrier is a barrier, they’re all opportunities,” Ho said when asked about obstacles she’s encountered in her own career. 

While it may have been possible to view the postponement of the CP Women’s Open and the restriction from having an in-person Summit as a barrier, instead the CP Women’s Leadership Summit went on, taking advantage of the unique situation.

McKenna admitted that having to do the Summit virtually this year was a curveball, but it also opened up new opportunities.

“We had people attend outside of Canada, so you didn’t necessarily have to be in the marketplace to enjoy these great speakers,” said McKenna.

Usually in a space-restricted setting, the event has around 275 attendees, according to McKenna. This year, however, she said there were over 1,100 registrants from various countries.

Canadian Pacific staff tuning in from HQ in Calgary

McKenna also said that everything went seamlessly for the Summit, and she wants to carry that momentum into next year, with the hopes that it can be done in-person if it is safe to do so.

The key takeaway from the Summit is this: what defines a successful leader is not just one thing, on one occasion, it’s finding humility, and it’s about keeping an open line of communication, even when you don’t necessarily have the answers.

And it’s about the small, subtle acts of understanding and empathy, like taking the hand of a 15-year-old walking up to that final hole, despite being her competitor.

Henderson said that golf can teach people a lot of life lessons.

“I feel like almost every day is a challenge out there,” said Henderson. “But that’s part of the reason why we love it.”

The truth can be said about life and leadership, as well.

Although 2019-20 was a strange, start-and-stop season on the PGA Tour, it was also arguably the best-ever campaign for Canadian golfers.

Mackenzie Hughes, Adam Hadwin, Corey Conners and Nick Taylor have at various points this season all been in the top 100 of the men’s world golf rankings – a new high for Canadian players – and Taylor Pendrith tore it up on the second-tier Korn Ferry Tour.

Derek Ingram, the men’s head coach for Golf Canada, has worked with all five players and said he believes that their success this past season – after the PGA resumed following a three-month break caused by the COVID-19 pandemic – is because of the group’s esprit de corps.

“There’s just a real great Team Canada feel on the PGA Tour,” said Ingram. “These guys eat together, they train together, they practise together, in the evenings because of the bubble they’re having dinner together. Each one of them pushes them to get better.”

Ingram added that there are other factors to the Canadian contingent’s success. He credits the influence of Mike Weir of Brights Grove, Ont., whose 2003 Masters win served as an inspiration for an entire generation of Canadian golfers as well as the development programs of provincial golf associations.

 

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For the first time EVER, there are 4 Canadians in the top ? rankings Hadwin – 53 Conners – 66 Hughes – 97 Taylor – 100

A post shared by Golf Canada (@thegolfcanada) on Jul 15, 2020 at 6:56am PDT

Hughes, from Dundas, Ont., drew most of the attention to close out the 2019-20 season, which officially ended on Monday with the final round of the Tour Championship.

After missing nine of 11 cuts to start the season, Hughes finished second at the Honda Classic on March 1. Hughes refocused himself during the pandemic break and rocketed up the FedEx Cup standings, qualifying for the 30-player Tour Championship with a nail-biting finish at the BMW Championship where he tied for 10th.

Hughes finished the season 14th in the FedEx Cup standings after a solid performance at the Tour Championship, the highest-ever year-end ranking for a Canadian. He’ll also play in next week’s U.S. Open along with Hadwin, Conners and Pendrith in the second week of the 2020-21 season.

“They’re doing unreal,” said Ingram. “Really, the credit goes to the players and their families and how hard they’ve worked. I just can’t tell you how thrilled I am for them as a fan and as a coach of the national team.”

Pendrith, who does not yet have full PGA Tour status, earned his way into the U.S. Open with his strong and consistent play that has put him at No. 4 on the Korn Ferry Tour’s points list heading into this week’s Evans Scholars Invitational.

Another important factor has been the role of NCAA programs in developing professional golfers.

Mac on a MISSION ??

Hughes climbs the leaderboard to finish 14th at the @playofffinale, closing off an excellent run to his season ??#TeamRBC pic.twitter.com/268CG7z8NL

— RBC Canadian Open (@RBCCanadianOpen) September 7, 2020

Herb Page of Markham, Ont., retired as the head coach of Kent State University’s men’s golf team last summer but is still in touch with Hughes, Conners, and Pendrith, all of whom he coached through their collegiate days at the Ohio school.

“They’ve just got someone to lean on, they’ve got that friendly face,” said Page on how camaraderie has benefited the Canadians. “It’s a tough, lonely grind out there, especially this year when you can’t bring your wife or your kids.

“I think even moreso this year (those friendships) are important.”

Although Hughes, Hadwin, Conners, and Taylor get the lion’s share of the attention among the Canadians on tour, they’re not the only ones plying their trade on the PGA.

Graham DeLaet of Weyburn, Sask., will make his return to action at the season opening Safeway Open at Silverado Resort and Spa North in Napa, Calif., on Thursday. He hasn’t played since January when back pain derailed his season.

 

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double-tap to give a warm welcome back to @grahamdelaet, who’s teeing it up this week at the Safeway Open after a period of recovering from injury. Play well, GD! ?

A post shared by Golf Canada (@thegolfcanada) on Sep 9, 2020 at 10:49am PDT

Roger Sloan of Merritt, B.C., David Hearn of Brantford, Ont., and Michael Gligic of Burlington, Ont., will also be in the field. Ingram said that the depth of Canadian talent in men’s professional golf is also a boon for the sport.

“I’m just thrilled for golf in Canada and for the guys that have been working hard for a long time,” said Ingram. “We’ve never been deeper.”

CALEDON, Ontario—Although cool and overcast all day, players at TPC Toronto at Osprey Valley’s Heathlands Course experienced very little wind, and the scores reflected that in the Canada Life Series’ season finale. Amateur Laurent Desmarchais fired an opening, 9-under 62 to take the lead, and five others were 65 or better during what turned out to be ideal scoring conditions in the first round. They include the 64 shooters Joey Savoie and Brendan Leonard and a trio at 65—amateur Jordan Crampton, Blair Bursey and Tanvir Kahlon.

Nobody, though, was better than Desmarchais on Wednesday. The member of Golf Canada’s Junior Boy’s Squad has played in all three previous Canada Life Series tournaments, making the cut each week. Desmarchais’ tie for 10th in the season-opener remains his best finish. His opening 68 that week was his best 18-hole score until he dismantled the Heathlands Course with his eight-birdie, one-eagle, one-bogey 62 in round one.

Desmarchais, currently the 314th-ranked player in the World Amateur Golf Ranking, made things look easy.

“Honestly, I just didn’t miss a shot out there. I started with an eagle and got some momentum there, and just kept hitting good shots and making putts,” the Longueuil, Quebec, native explained after his round. “After I turned in 29, I thought maybe there was a chance to shoot 59, but I bogeyed 11. After that, I just focused on hitting a few more good shots and bounced back with a birdie on the next hole.”

The birdie barrage slowed down after that, with his final birdie of the day coming at the par-5 16th. No other mistakes gave him the dream start to fourth and final Canada Life Series tournament.

“I want to win,” Desmarchais said matter-of-factly. “Every time I play in an event, I want to try and win, and so hopefully I can keep playing well and give myself a chance to win this week.” He certainly did.

Desmarchais will have to hold off a contingent of 17 players within four shots of the lead with 36 holes to play.

One eagle. Eight birdies. One bogey.

All in a day's work for Laurent Desmarchais to take the #CanadaLifeSeries lead ? pic.twitter.com/vDxkxM97Li

— Mackenzie Tour (@PGATOURCanada) September 9, 2020

Three players still have a shot at winning the overall points title, with Cao (first) and Pistorius (second) both distancing themselves from No. 3 Evan Holmes, who could only muster an even-par 71. Holmes is tied for 65th and will have to turn things around Thursday to make the cut. Cao and Pistorius both shot 67s and are tied for 19th. For Cao, it was a case of what might have been. He was 8-under through 16 holes after a birdie on the par-5. Cao gave back half of his gains for the day when he made consecutive double bogeys on Nos. 17 and 18 for a disappointing close to his day.

Getting off to a fast start is nothing new for Leonard. At last week’s Canada Life Series tournament, also at TPC Toronto, Leonard fired an opening 66 followed by a 2-under 69 that left him tied for the lead with Cao and Andrew J. Funk with a round to play. Leonard closed with a 75 that left him tied for ninth. He seemingly forgot about that frustrating final round, although it took him a while to get going. Playing the Heathlands Course’s back nine first, Leonard made two birdies and two bogeys to turn at even-par. He then turned it on, making four consecutive birdies—and seven total—over his final nine to shoot a 29, matching the low nine-hole score of the Series (Blair Bursey in the third round of the second Bear Mountain tournament).

“Funny enough, I switched my putting grip through six holes and kind of went off after that on the back nine,” said Leonard, who went with the claw grip for his final 12 holes. “It was perfect with no wind and easy to take advantage of it out there. I decided it was worth a change and it worked out.”

Scotty Cameron is celebrating the long-running success of Titleist Brand Ambassador Justin Thomas with the introduction of the new Inspired by Justin Thomas Phantom X5.5 putter.

Available Sept. 22 worldwide in select Titleist golf shops, the limited-release model is designed to the specifications of the trusted gamer that Thomas has used in capturing 12 of his 13 PGA Tour titles – including the 2017 PGA Championship – and most recently, the 2020 WGC-FedEx St. Jude Invitational. Scotty has created exactly 2,020 Inspired by Justin Thomas putters for worldwide distribution.

Each Inspired by Justin Thomas Phantom X5.5 incorporates the custom setup that Scotty crafted for JT in the summer of 2016 – combining the high-MOI wingback head style with a welded small slant neck that promotes an arced putting stroke more commonly associated with a blade.

To commemorate this special release, Scotty and team created a “Circle JT” emblem that is engraved on the heel of the putter face.

“Justin Thomas is one of those unique players who only comes around once or twice in a generation. He first visited the Scotty Cameron Putter Studio as a young amateur when he played a Newport 2,” said Cameron. “JT loved that traditional putter look. But even after getting his first tour win with the blade, he started to consider a change. He poked around our putter bag on the Titleist Tour Van and was initially drawn to the Futura X5 – the compact mallet shape really suited his eye. After some back-and-forth discussions, I welded him a small slant neck as a prototype setup and here we are. Twelve PGA Tour wins later and still counting with the same putter – including a major championship, two World Golf Championships and a FedExCup Championship. Players are always asking me for a welded-neck putter like JT’s. It’s a special setup that deserves this kind of treatment.”

“This was an extremely cool project for me to work on with Scotty,” said Thomas. “When I first saw the 5.5, I immediately noticed how nicely it sits down on the green. The neck just makes it sit so square. In the beginning, I was only thinking it would give me something different to look at for a couple weeks – yet here I am – four-something years later and still gaming it. So, I guess it’s worked out pretty well.”

PERFORMANCE & TECHNOLOGY

The Inspired by Justin Thomas Phantom X5.5 has been created in the spirit of JT’s tour-winning prototype with the following key features:

• Multi-material head with solid face technology features a standard-milled, 6061 aircraft aluminum face that extends back and through the flange area surrounded by heavier 303 stainless steel wings for high-MOI and stability.
• Tour-winning setup – crafted at 34.5 inches with 10-gram customizable stainless steel heel and toe weights for proper balance and increased stability throughout the stroke.

• Welded small slant neck – hand welded on every putter like JT’s original prototype – provides increased toe flow for the mallet head style.

• Signature markings – including a special “Circle JT” emblem engraved into the face heel, and Thomas’ signature designed into the aluminum sole plate – complete the “Inspired by” look and feel.

• Solid milled stainless steel construction – is milled in the United States from a block of solid 303 stainless steel for legendary performance and playability with consistent sound and soft feel.

AESTHETICS & ACCESSORIES

Every Inspired by Justin Thomas putter features a raw stainless steel finish and a unique bead blast for a radiant yet glare resistant appearance. Additionally, Scotty’s signature three red dot pattern has been included in the back cavity.

The putter is accessorized with a new Pistolero Plus grip in cement gray with black lettering. This grip complements an elegantly embroidered, custom Inspired by Justin Thomas headcover and a Scotty Cameron Fine Milled Putters Seven-Point Crown shaft band.

AVAILABILITY

A limited run of 2,020 Scotty Cameron Inspired by Justin Thomas Phantom X5.5 putters will be available beginning Sep. 22 at select Titleist authorized golf shops worldwide. MAP $1150.

ATLANTA – Dustin Johnson only looks like he plays without a pulse. Beneath his stoic stare and that swagger as he walked the fairways of East Lake were jangled nerves Monday because it meant so much to him.

The $15 million prize for winning the FedEx Cup? That would get anyone’s attention, especially someone who thought he was rich when Johnson cashed his first tournament check as a PGA Tour rookie for $113,571.

But there was more.

“The prestige, for sure,” Johnson said after delivering a key par putt and steady play down the stretch for a 2-under 68 and a three-shot victory in the Tour Championship.

“Being a FedEx Cup champion is something that I really wanted to do. I wanted to hold that trophy at the end of the day,” Johnson said. “It was something that I wanted to accomplish during my career.”

He did it by hitting his stride at just the right time.

He won two of the three FedEx Cup post-season events and lost in a playoff by a 65-foot putt in the other. It all came down to the final day of the final event, and even with a five-shot lead, it was never easy.

Xander Schauffele and Justin Thomas each got within three shots on the front nine. They each got within two shots of Johnson with two holes to play. He never let them catch them, and his only birdie of the back nine on the final hole gave him his third victory since June and the 23rd of his PGA Tour career.

“It’s a very tough trophy to win,” Johnson said. “I controlled my own destiny, but I still had to go out and play well. I had a lot of great players right behind me. It got close at the end. I knew it was going to come down the stretch and I’d have to hit some golf shots.”

 

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DJ wins the @playofffinale to cap off a remarkable season ???? #TeamRBC

A post shared by RBC Canadian Open (@rbccanadianopen) on Sep 7, 2020 at 3:20pm PDT

None were bigger than the 20-foot par putt on the 13th hole to keep his lead at three shots, the 5-iron safely on the green on the toughest hole at East Lake, another 5-iron over the water on the par-3 15th – the one hole where big numbers lurk – and a wedge out of a deep bunker and onto the green at the 16th.

“This is a tough golf course. No lead is safe,” Johnson said. “The guys gave me a good fight today.”

Johnson became the first No. 1 seed at the Tour Championship to win the FedEx Cup since Tiger Woods in 2009. Now he has his name etched on the silver trophy alongside some of the best from his generation, starting with Woods and most recently Rory McIlroy, with Hall of Famers, major champions and former world No. 1 players in between.

Schauffele, who tends to bring his best golf to big moments, cut the lead to two shots when both had to scramble for par on the 13th. Schauffele missed his par putt from 25 feet, and Johnson rammed his in.

“He’s here to win the tournament,” said Schauffele, who closed with a 66 and had the lowest 72-hole score of the tournament at 265. “He made that putt. I didn’t. That was a pinnacle moment.”

Thomas made bogey from a wild tee shot to the right on the 17th. Schauffele also had to scramble on the 17th, escaping with par after a tee shot into the bunker. And on the par-5 18th, Johnson unleashed a drive that started left along the pine trees and faded gently toward the middle of the fairway.

That set up a birdie from the front bunker, a hug with brother Austin, his caddie, and a trophy he long wanted.

Johnson was staked to a five-shot lead at 19-under par – 9 under on his own score and starting the tournament at 10 under as the No. 1 seed in the FedEx Cup. He finished at 21 under.

Schauffele and Thomas tied for second, each earning $4.5 million.

Jon Rahm, the No. 2 seed, closed with a 66 to finish fourth and earn $3 million. Scottie Scheffler, who a year ago was getting ready to start his rookie year, had a 66-65 finish and was fifth for a $2.5 million payoff.

Mackenzie Hughes of Dundas, Ont., finished the year as the top-ranked Canadian male golfer after placing 14th. Hughes, the lone Canadian to make the Tour Championship, fired a 67 to get to 8 under. He earned $620,000 for his efforts.

Mac on a MISSION ??

Hughes climbs the leaderboard to finish 14th at the @playofffinale, closing off an excellent run to his season ??#TeamRBC pic.twitter.com/268CG7z8NL

— RBC Canadian Open (@RBCCanadianOpen) September 7, 2020

And so wrapped up the strangest season on the PGA Tour, which doesn’t feel like the end at all except for the $15 million awarded to Johnson, $14 million now and $1 million deferred.

The new season starts Thursday. Two majors are still to be played.

Golf was shut down for three months and when it restarted, Johnson was No. 111 in the FedEx Cup. He won the Travelers Championship. He followed with a pair of 80s in the Memorial and then a 78 at the 3M Open in Minnesota before he withdrew because he wasn’t feeling quite right.

Since then, he looks like the biggest talent in golf.

“I played with him at the Memorial, and I’ve never seen him as lost, anywhere remotely close to that lost,” Thomas said. “He was putting so bad and playing so bad. But he never gave up. He was just trying to find it out there and he couldn’t find it again the next week, and then next thing you know, two months later he’s the FedEx Cup champion.

“I think that’s all you need to know about golf right there.”

In four straight tournaments against the best fields, he had the 54-hole three times and was tied in the other. He converted one into an 11-shot win. He lost to a 65 by Collin Morikawa at the PGA Championship and to a 65-foot putt by Rahm at the BMW Championship.

He badly wanted the last one, and even staked to a five-shot lead to par at East Lake, it was never easy.

It rarely is for Johnson.

But he’s back on top at No. 1 and with a trophy he badly wanted. Next up is the U.S. Open at Winged Foot in two weeks, a tough course, the kind Johnson loves. Still to come is the Masters. The celebration can wait until the holidays. He wants to keep going.

“I’m playing well. I’ve got a lot of confidence in the game,” he said. “I’m really looking forward to the next obviously couple months.”

ATLANTA – Dustin Johnson watched his opening drive sail long and fall gently to the right, just like he imagined. So did the next drive. It was like that all day at East Lake, and the outcome was predictable.

Johnson is playing the best golf and looks tougher than ever to beat.

When he finished with a 10-foot birdie, Johnson matched the low round Sunday with a 6-under 64 to build a five-shot lead over Justin Thomas and Xander Schauffele in the Tour Championship, leaving him one round away from the FedEx Cup and its $15 million prize.

“I’ve got a lot of confidence in everything I’m doing right now,” Johnson said.

A quick fix on the range the previous evening was all he needed to get straightened out. Johnson missed only three fairways, and not by much. He putted for birdie on all but three holes and made seven of them.

“He’s showcased what he can do,” Schauffele said. “If he does what he normally does, it’s going to be almost impossible to catch him.”

Normal these days for Johnson must be daunting for everyone else.

He was at 19-under par, making this his four consecutive start with at least a share of the 54-hole lead. He converted one of those into an 11-shot victory at the TPC Boston. He lost to a 65 by Collin Morikawa in the PGA Championship and o a 65-foot putt by Jon Rahm in a playoff last week at Olympia Fields.

“We’re going to need Dustin to throw us a bone and not have a good day,” said Rahm, who was six shots back.

Johnson knows better than anyone that it’s not over. He had a six-shot lead in Shanghai three years ago and failed to win, though he had a new set of irons and was coming off a five-week break. He also had a five-shot lead at The Northern Trust two weeks ago and obliterated the course and the field to win by 11.

“If he hits the ball like everybody knows he can and the way he’s putting … I haven’t seen him putt that well in a long time,” Harris English said. “It’s hard to stop.”

Only four players have a reasonable chance of catching him.

Schauffele, a big-game player who won the Tour Championship three years ago, dropped only one shot on the front nine and finished with a 10-foot birdie putt for a 67 that put him in the final group with Johnson.

Thomas missed a 16-inch par putt on the 10th hole that he carelessly went to tap in, bounced back with a 25-foot birdie putt on the toughest par 3 at East Lake and made two more birdies coming for a 66.

They were at 14 under.

“DJ is clearly playing well. It wasn’t easy today,” Thomas said. “It’s still East Lake. But anything can happen around this course. You can shoot 63 or 64 and you can shoot 73 or 74 very easily. I just need to hope that tomorrow is my 63 or 64.”

Rahm has had a wild week. He opened with a 65, followed with a 74 and bounced back with a 66. He played bogey-free and his round only felt better when he finished with two birdies.

“The one good thing I have going for me is we’re here to win, so tomorrow is a green light for everything,” Rahm said.

Morikawa rallied with five birdies on the back nine to salvage a rough start for a 67. He was seven behind.

Daniel Berger also had a 64, but he made up no ground on Johnson was remained nine behind. Also at 10-under was Sungjae Im, who played in the final group with Johnson and must have wondered what hit him. Im shot 72.

The FedEx Cup has been on Johnson’s mind ever since he squandered a great chance to win it in 2016.

He went into the final round that year tied for the lead and then couldn’t find a fairway, closing with a 73. He still had a chance to win the FedEx Cup when it was based on points. Only one player could have beaten him that day and it was Rory McIlroy, who holed a shot from the fairway on the 16th for eagle and then won in a three-way playoff.

Johnson moves on from wins and losses, no matter how high or how crushing. Even so, he thinks about that day, mainly because the FedEx Cup is filled with big names and his isn’t among them yet.

“To be the FedEx Cup champion is something that I want to do. It’s something that I want on my resume when I quit playing golf,” he said. “Yeah, it means a lot to me. So yes, I do want to win this tournament. … I had a chance to win it a few years ago. I couldn’t control winning by my golf. Tomorrow, I do.”

Canadian Mackenzie Hughes of Dundas, Ont., fired a 66 to jump into a tie for 20th.

52-footer? No problem for @MacHughesGolf ?

That’s the longest putt made this week pic.twitter.com/tv85aLtZbX

— Golf Canada (@GolfCanada) September 7, 2020

McIlroy won’t be in the mix this year. He was walking off the 17th tee and looked back at Johnson heading to the 14th, a 512-yard par 4 and the toughest at East Lake. Johnson already was 10 shots ahead of him, and then smashed a drive down the fairway and made a 15-foot birdie putt.

McIlroy birdied the 17th to salvage a 70. He was 11 shots back.

ATLANTA – The final hole at East Lake brought two strange sights Saturday at the Tour Championship.

First, Rory McIlroy hit a shot that toppled out of thick rough right into the water in front of him, a distance laser cameras estimated at 85 feet, 8 inches, not accounting for how far it sank to the bottom.

Then, Dustin Johnson reached his drive and could see the entire golf ball in the grass. It was in the first cut, sure, but a relief considering he didn’t hit a fairway over the final three hours.

It was a rare green light for Johnson, and he hit 5-iron to 30 feet for a two-putt birdie and an even-par 70, allowing to escape with a one-shot lead over Sungjae Im at the halfway point of the chase for the FedEx Cup and the $15 million prize.

Johnson headed straight to the range to try to figure out why he hit only two fairways, though he was satisfied to have so few chances and still stay in front.

“Two different golf courses if you’re playing from the fairway or playing from the rough,” Johnson said. “Playing from the fairway you can attack the course, you can shoot a good score. Playing from where I did, it’s not so much fun. But I managed my game pretty well, and pleased with the score that I shot, especially the way I drove the ball.”

McIlroy also shrugged off his shot, in which he tried to do too much with a gnarly lie, not so much to get over the water but a bunker on the right side. It cost him a bogey for a 71 that left him five behind, though he could see a bigger picture.

“It doesn’t look like I’m going to lose any ground today anyway, which is some sort of consolation,” he said.

That might have been the best take after a second round filled with birdies and blunders. The next 36 holes are all about opportunity for the nine player separated by just five shots.

As well as Johnson has been playing – two runner-up finishes and an 11-shot victory in his last three starts – there was a chance he could have taken his two-shot lead at the start of the tournament and run away with it.

Johnson, with rounds of 67-70 along with starting at 10 under as the No. 1 seed in the FedEx Cup, was at 13 under.

Im, the budding star from South Korea whose game had gone lukewarm coming out of the three-month shutdown, birdied three of his last four holes for a 64 and will be in the final group with Johnson.

Xander Schauffele, who won the Tour Championship as a rookie in 2017, ran off three straight birdies late in his round for a 65 and was two shots behind. Another big move came from PGA champion Collin Morikawa, whose 66 put him four shots out of the lead.

Johnson hit the fairway on the first and fifth holes – both pars. He still managed a birdie on No. 8 when he drove into a bunker, came up short of the green and chipped in from 40 feet, both the par 5s and on No. 3, where he made a 40-footer.

“I feel like I got my two bad rounds out of the way and I got two good ones coming, where the other guys, they’ve shot some good scores,” Johnson said. “My game feels good. I’ve still got a lot of confidence in everything I’m doing. Just I’ve got to hit it in the fairway. That’s pretty simple.”

He wasn’t alone in his struggles.

Justin Thomas pulled within one shot until he couldn’t convert birdie chances and then drove so far left on the 18th that he had to pitch out sideways, leading to bogey and a 71.

Jon Rahm again was keeping stride with Johnson until he found the water off the tee at the par-3 15th and made double bogey, followed by a wild drive that led to bogey on the 16th. He shot a 74, nine shots worse than his opening round. That left him four shots behind at 9 under.

That’s what was so maddening for Thomas, who felt like he was hitting it well enough from tee to green. He ranks last in the 30-man field in putting, which would not surprise him.

“I should have never shot over par today with how well I played,” he said. “I just made absolutely nothing.”

That much was evident when his 6-foot par putt swirled in and out of the cup, and Thomas gave it a sarcastic thumbs-up.

Rahm was frustrated as ever, mainly because he couldn’t capitalize when he was in the fairway and felt it was another round at East Lake that would cost him. Now, however, he’s still only four shots behind with 36 holes remaining and $15 million still very much up for grabs.

“The closest I came from the fifth hole on to make a birdie was that bunker shot on 18,” he said of his third shot from behind the green. “That’s the best look I had all day. It’s just one of those days. But like you said, the mentality is right now we’ve played two days of the tournament. I’m four back going into the weekend. Anything can happen.”

OTTAWA – The National Golf Course Owners Association Canada’s monthly Research Reports, presented by Club Car, continue to show impressive increases in both rounds played and revenue for the 2020 golf season.

NGCOA Canada Rounds Played Reports for the month of July showed an increase of 25.5% nationally year-over-year. All provinces were up by double digits with Saskatchewan leading the charge with an impressive increase of 40.1% followed with BC at 38.9%, 24.6% in Ontario, 22.9% in Alberta, 21.7% in Atlantic, 19% in Quebec and 17.2% in Manitoba.

What is even more impressive is the 2020 year-to-date increase of 9.3% nationally, considering the late start to this season in many regions due to COVID-19. At the end of May, the national Rounds Played results were down 25.9%. But the portion of May that courses were able to open was very strong and that continued through the first full month for all courses in June, and throughout the summer.

“Back in April, the uncertainty from COVID-19 and government mandated closures meant that the entire golf season was at serious risk”, stated Jeff Calderwood, CEO of the NGCOA Canada. “And now we’re tracking for record setting 2020 results!”

July rounds played also outpaced the past 5-year average by an impressive 25.6% which further reinforces the success golf is experiencing.

In addition to the golf benefitting as one of the safest activities during COVID-19 restrictions, NGCOA Canada’s Weather Impact Report shows that weather has also contributed to the success. Tracked regionally, the collective weather impact reported by all golf course operators scored an 8.1 index on a 0-10 scale where 5 is “normal”. The Reports show that Atlantic, Quebec and Ontario benefitted the most from favorable weather conditions.

Nationally, golf courses are also experiencing corresponding increases in revenues. Of particular note, credit card transaction revenues increased by 73.2% over July 2019, with Quebec and Ontario seeing the highest increases! The increase in online and contactless payments coupled with the renewed popularity in golf appear to be the main contributing factors.

That tremendous growth in July credit card transactions brings the 2020 year-to-date increase to almost 20%, more than offsetting the large decreases seen in March and April. All regions had significant growth with the exception of Atlantic Canada where it appears member and local play is driving the increase in rounds while the lucrative golf tourism market has been seriously curtailed by restrictions on both inter-provincial and International travel.

Calderwood goes on to note that “We had been hearing how busy golf courses have been and we saw positive data coming out of the June, the first full month this year. But our July Rounds and Revenue Reports confirm that the anecdotal comments and early positive data have indeed translated into a very sustained positive 2020 trend for Canadian golf. This may be a record-setting year despite the challenges associated with COVID-19”.

ATLANTA – Five days later, Dustin Johnson and Jon Rahm are still going at it. They dressed about the same Friday in the Tour Championship, matched birdies on five holes and wound up tied for the lead at East Lake.

That required Rahm getting the better of Johnson again.

Rahm, whose 65-foot birdie putt beat Johnson in a playoff at Olympia Fields last week, had a 5-under 65 that allowed him to make up the two-shot deficit at the start of the round that was awarded Johnson as the No. 1 seed in the FedEx Cup.

Johnson did his part with a 67, losing a three-shot edge early with back-to-back bogeys to end the front nine, and then missing a birdie putt from just over 4 feet on the final hole that would have given him the lead.

“The only birdie we didn’t share was mine on 16. Besides that, we birdied every single hole together, which is kind of unique, right?” Rahm said.

They were at 13-under par based on their starting positions in the FedEx Cup finale.

It was the second straight year under this format the FedEx Cup leader, who starts at 10 under with a two-shot lead, ended the opening round in a tie for the lead.

“Technically, it is a continuation,” Rahm said. “I kind of stole that tournament last week from him and he started with a two-shot lead. So hopefully, I can steal this one, as well.”

Justin Thomas was in the top spot a year ago and opened with a 70. He said later it felt awkward to start the tournament with a two-shot lead before hitting a shot. This year, he began at 7 under and shot a 66 to end the day two shots behind.

“I learned I would have rather been at 10 under than 7,” he said. “That being said, I feel like I’m in a good frame of mind. I’m in a good place mentally right now where I would like to feel like I would handle the golf course the same no matter what I was at. But I did a good job of just staying in my game today.”

The biggest move belonged to the player who might have had the least expectations. Rory McIlroy left Chicago on Sunday and spent three days with his newborn daughter, Poppy, only arriving in Atlanta on Thursday.

He finished with three straight birdies, getting up-and-down from a bunker short of the green on the par-5 18th, for a 64. He started seven shots behind and finished the opening round only four back.

“Even though I’ve had success here, I was coming in with no expectations. I didn’t touch a club for four days in between tournaments,” McIlroy said. “I come in here and golf was sort of the furthest thing from my mind. And sometimes that’s a good thing just to decompress and get away from it. Yeah, happy to have the start that I did.”

Abraham Ancer also had a 64 and cut three shots off his deficit, getting within six shots of Johnson and Rahm.

Mackenzie Hughes of Dundas, Ont., the only Canadian in the tournament, shot an even-par 70 to finish the round tied for 26th with Billy Horschel and Joaquin Niemann.

A a muggy afternoon with moderate wind that allowed for 17 players in the 30-man field to break par. The average score was 68.7. Johnson and Rahm spent most of the day playing out of the rough, which makes it harder to get it close.

“The key out here is driving,” Johnson said. “If you can drive it in the fairway, you can shoot a good score. The greens are so good, and the only way to control the golf ball coming into the greens is hitting out of the fairway. That’s the only thing I need to do a little better tomorrow.”

Johnson, Rahm and Thomas hold the key to so many hopes in the chase for the FedEx Cup and its $15 million prize. If they play well, it makes it difficult for anyone to make up too much ground on the players who happened to be the top three players in the world ranking.

Johnson and Rahm had golf buzzing last week with that wild finish at the BMW Championship, where Johnson holed a bending 45-foot birdie putt down the slope on the final hole to force a playoff, and Rahm followed by making a 65-foot birdie putt on the 18th hole that turned out to be the winner.

Both wore navy trousers, a light blue shirt and a white cap. From a distance, it could be hard to tell them apart, especially with the birdies. Rahm holed one from 20 feet on the par-3 second hole, and Johnson matched him from 6 feet. Both got up-and-down for birdie on the par-5 sixth.

On the back nine, they matched birdies on the 12th, 13th and 15th holes – Rahm was outside him all three times.

“I feel like I was doing most of the pushing because I made pretty much every single birdie putt before he did,” Rahm said. “Props to him to be making them on top of me.”

The Spaniard finally caught him an 18-foot birdie putt on the 16th – Rahm’s fourth birdie in five holes – and both squandered birdie chances on the closing hole.