Who wouldn’t enjoy reading a book written by “the luckiest man in town”?

Especially someone who “went around the world a few times on someone else’s dime.”

Who wouldn’t want to hear the tales of a guy who witnessed 58 of golf’s major championships, 10 Ryder and/or Presidents Cups, 10 Olympics, a dozen Super Bowls, 14 World Series, hundreds of NHL, NBA and MLB post-season games and thousands of regular-season games? Plus horse races, car races, boxing, and just about every other sporting endeavor.

For more than four decades, Dave Perkins, the aforementioned self-proclaimed “luckiest man in town,” covered sports and, in his new book, Fun and Games: My 40 Years Writing Sports, he shares a smidgen of what it is like to be in the media rooms, press boxes, bars and other haunts that his profession led him to.

Like the man himself, the contents are honest, irreverent, funny, entertaining, frequently off-colour and often politically incorrect.  And, occasionally, emotional and introspective.

And that makes for a great read from cover to cover, whether you are just interested in the “inside the ropes” golf insight or fascinated by behind-the-scenes revelations about the other sports he covered.

Golf is Perkins’s first love. Aside from being a devotee of the game, he says, “I most enjoyed covering golf because there were no night games. It took me to nice places, just about everyone was civil and the press was usually treated extremely well.”

As usual, he is being intentionally cavalier.

Ask him what was the best sporting event he ever covered and the response will surprise you. It did me.

It was the 2003 Presidents Cup in South Africa, for reasons that are not immediately apparent.  They are well worth discovering.

Overall, and I agree, he makes a compelling argument that the best event to witness in person is the Open Championship.

His brushes, often bristly like the burly hirsute man himself, with the glitterati are not confined to sports figures, either. Bill Clinton, Meg Ryan, and others had their moments with him. More memorable for Perkins, I assume, although I have not read the memoirs of either Clinton or Ryan.

In total disclosure: I know Dave, I like Dave, and I was there for some of the golf-related episodes he relates.

Many do not make the pages of his book. As he says, “Some of the subjects of those missing stories are not dead and neither are their wives. So best to let idle lawyers stay idle. There’s still plenty to go around.”

Uncharacteristically circumspect. But characteristically accurate.

Fun and Games just scratches the surface of his 40 years of newspapering which began at The Globe and Mail and flourished at The Toronto Star.

I hope there’s a sequel.  Lawyers be damned.

Just leave my name out of it.

Fun and Games: My 40 Years Writing Sports (288 pages, paperback, $19.95) is published by ECW Press and is available from book retailers everywhere, as well as online. It can also be found online.

It is with great sadness that Golf Canada joins the international golf community in mourning the loss of golf legend Arnold Palmer who passed away on September 25, 2016 at the age of 87.

Affectionately known as ‘The King’, Palmer, a member of the World Golf Hall of Fame, will be remembered as one of the most influential figures in the history of golf.

“On behalf of the entire Canadian golf community, we are extremely saddened by the loss of a legend and would like to express our most sincere condolences on the passing of Arnold Palmer,” said Golf Canada CEO Scott Simmons. “Mr. Palmer meant so much to the game both on and off the golf course and his influence on the sport has had an immeasurable impact. His legacy reflects a storied champion, business leader, mentor, philanthropist, visionary and a true gentleman. We are extremely proud of Mr. Palmer’s special connection to Canadian golf and join the international golf and sporting communities in celebrating the life of arguably the finest ambassador golf has ever known.”

Palmer competed in 17 Canadian Opens during his storied playing career (1955-1958, 1964, 1965, 1967, 1968, 1971-1979).

His victory at the 1955 Canadian Open at Weston Golf and Country Club was his first career PGA Tour victory. A statue of Palmer’s Canadian Open win at Weston – based on a photograph by Gordon W. Powley – was erected in 2005 to commemorate the 50^th anniversary of the historic victory.

Including his win at the 1955 Canadian Open, Palmer earned seven Top-10 finishes at Canada’s National Open Championship (T9 in 1956; 2^nd in 1964; 7^th in 1967; T10 in 1973; 4^th in 1975; and T8 in 1978).

He also competed in a pair of Canadian Senior Opens, finishing tied for 12^th in 1983 and tied for 58^th in 1996.

As well, Palmer played in the PGA of Canada Championship on four occasions, including a victory in 1980; 6^th in 1978; T49 in 1981; and T12 in 1983.

A global ambassador and proponent for golf as a charitable platform, Palmer delivered the keynote address to help celebrate the centennial anniversary of the Canadian Open in 2004.

NOTE TO MEDIA – photos of Arnold Palmer from the Canadian Golf Hall of Fame are available to download here.

Palmer made mark on Canadian golf, including first PGA Tour win in 1955

Bill Paul recalls meeting Arnold Palmer in 1981 and being just as impressed with the man as the golf legend.

“I was maybe 22 and he was whatever (52),” Paul, former tournament director of the Canadian Open and now Golf Canada’s Chief Championships Officer, said Monday. “I remember it because he’s the king of golf and I’m this little peon, but he treated me like I was anybody else.

“He treated everyone the same. And every time I’d meet him after that, he remembered me and knew my name.”

Many people who met Palmer, who died Sunday in a Pittsburgh hospital, have similar stories about the King, who went from being a caddie to one of the greatest names in the sport but never seemed to forget where he came from.

Palmer certainly left his mark on Canada, and not only for the courses he helped design like the Whistler Golf Club or Northview in Surrey, B.C.

The Latrobe, Pa., native posted the first of his 62 PGA Tour victories in 1955 at the Weston Golf and Country Club near Toronto. Palmer was a Tour rookie that year and traveled between tournaments by car with his first wife Winnie. The couple camped in a field behind the superintendent’s shed at Weston.

Then he blew away the pack en route to a four-stroke win and the top prize of $2,400.

“Things came together pretty much for me in this Canadian Open and it got me started on the winning trail,” Palmer said of the win.

In 2004, Paul invited him to help celebrate the Canadian Open’s 100th anniversary and was stunned when the four-time Masters champion said “I’ll go to the Canadian Open and I’d like to speak at it.”

“When he said ‘yes’ it was unbelievable,” said Paul.

A year later, Palmer was back at Weston to celebrate the 50th anniversary of his first PGA win, which included playing in a skins game with Dave Barr, Ray Floyd and Mark Calcavecchia. A statue of Palmer hugging the trophy was unveiled at the course.

Palmer went on to become one of golf’s all-time greats and was credited with sparking the sport’s mass appeal at a time when the game had just started to be shown on television.

He also led the way for other athletes in capitalizing on his fame and achievements by launching a clothing line, a golf course design company, helping start the IMG sports agency and other ventures.

“As promoters and organizers we all tip out hats to Mr. Palmer for what he meant to sports and what he showed in his life,” said Paul.

Here’s video of Arnold Palmer’s 1955 Canadian Open victory courtesy the Canadian Golf Hall of Fame & Archives.

Also, here’s video of Palmer speaking at the 100th playing of the Canadian Open.

Arnold Palmer brought a country club sport to the masses with a hard-charging style, charisma and a commoner’s touch. At ease with both presidents and the golfing public, and on a first-name basis with both, “The King” died Sunday in Pittsburgh. He was 87.

Alastair Johnston, CEO of Arnold Palmer Enterprises, confirmed that Palmer died Sunday afternoon of complications from heart problems. Johnston said Palmer was admitted to the UPMC Hospital on Thursday for some cardiovascular work and weakened over the last few days.

“Today marks the passing of an era,” said Johnston, Palmer’s longtime agent at IMG. “Arnold Palmer’s influence, profile and achievements spread far beyond the game of golf. He was an iconic American who treated people with respect and warmth, and built a unique legacy through his ability to engage with fans.”

Palmer ranked among the most important figures in golf history , and it went well beyond his seven major championships and 62 PGA Tour wins. His good looks, devilish grin and go-for-broke manner made the elite sport appealing to one and all. And it helped that he arrived about the same time as television moved into most households, a perfect fit that sent golf to unprecedented popularity.

“If it wasn’t for Arnold, golf wouldn’t be as popular as it is now,” Tiger Woods said in 2004 when Palmer played in his last Masters. “He’s the one who basically brought it to the forefront on TV. If it wasn’t for him and his excitement, his flair, the way he played, golf probably would not have had that type of excitement.

“And that’s why he’s the king.”

Beyond his golf, Palmer was a pioneer in sports marketing, paving the way for scores of other athletes to reap in millions from endorsements. Some four decades after his last PGA Tour win, he ranked among the highest-earners in golf.

“Thanks Arnold for your friendship, counsel and a lot of laughs,” Woods tweeted Sunday night. “Your philanthropy and humility are part of your legend. It’s hard to imagine golf without you or anyone more important to the game than the King.”

On the golf course, Palmer was an icon not for how often he won, but the way he did it.

He would hitch up his pants, drop a cigarette and attack the flags. With powerful hands wrapped around the golf club, Palmer would slash at the ball with all of his might, then twist that muscular neck and squint to see where it went.

“When he hits the ball, the earth shakes,” Gene Littler once said.

Palmer rallied from seven shots behind to win a U.S. Open. He blew a seven-shot lead on the back nine to lose a U.S. Open.

He was never dull.

“I’m pleased that I was able to do what I did from a golfing standpoint,” Palmer said in 2008, two years after he played in his last official tournament. “I would like to think that I left them more than just that.”

He left behind a gallery known as “Arnie’s Army,” which began at Augusta National with a small group of soldiers from nearby Fort Gordon, and grew to include a legion of fans from every corner of the globe.

Palmer stopped playing the Masters in 2004 and hit the ceremonial tee shot every year until 2016, when age began to take a toll and he struggled with his balance.

Canadian golfer Mike Weir, who captured the Masters in 2003, tweeted from his verified account.

Everyone knows the great champion Mr Palmer is, but having spent time with, he’s an even better human being. #RIPAP pic.twitter.com/6KORU5M0KI

— Weirsy (@MikeWeir) September 26, 2016

Fellow Canadian golfer Graham DeLaet also reacted to the news on Twitter.

Arnie was one of the special people in our game. Treated everyone with so much respect. So glad I was able to meet the King. #RIP

— Graham DeLaet (@GrahamDeLaet) September 26, 2016

He also shared this tweet.

If Mr. Palmer’s life was a round of golf, he’s the only guy to ever shoot 57. #TheKing

— Graham DeLaet (@GrahamDeLaet) September 26, 2016

It was Palmer who gave golf the modern version of the Grand Slam – winning all four professional majors in one year. He came up with the idea after winning the Masters and U.S. Open in 1960. Palmer was runner-up at the British Open, later calling it one of the biggest disappointments of his career. But his appearance alone invigorated the British Open, which Americans had been ignoring for years.

Palmer never won the PGA Championship, one major short of capturing a career Grand Slam.

But then, standard he set went beyond trophies. It was the way he treated people, looking everyone in the eye with a smile and a wink. He signed every autograph, making sure it was legible. He made every fan feel like an old friend.

Palmer never like being referred to as “The King,” but the name stuck.

“It was back in the early ’60s. I was playing pretty good, winning a lot of tournaments, and someone gave a speech and referred to me as ‘The King,”’ Palmer said in a November 2011 interview with The Associated Press.

“I don’t bask in it. I don’t relish it. I tried for a long time to stop that and,” he said, pausing to shrug, “there was no point.”

Palmer played at least one PGA Tour event every season for 52 consecutive years, ending with the 2004 Masters. He spearheaded the growth of the 50-and-older Champions Tour, winning 10 times and drawing some of the biggest crowds.

He was equally successful off with golf course design, a wine collection, and apparel that included his famous logo of an umbrella. He bought the Bay Hill Club & Lodge upon making his winter home in Orlando, Florida, and in 2007 the PGA Tour changed the name of the tournament to the Arnold Palmer Invitational.

The combination of iced tea and lemonade is known as an “Arnold Palmer.” Padraig Harrington recalls eating in an Italian restaurant in Miami when he heard a customer order one.

“Think about it,” Harrington said. “You don’t go up there and order a ‘Tiger Woods’ at the bar. You can go up there and order an ‘Arnold Palmer’ in this country and the barman – he was a young man – knew what the drink was. That’s in a league of your own.”

Palmer was born Sept. 10, 1929 in Latrobe, Pennsylvania, the oldest of four children. His father, Deacon, became the greenskeeper at Latrobe Country Club in 1921 and the club pro in 1933.

He had two loves as a boy – strapping on his holster with toy guns to play “Cowboys and Indians,” and playing golf. It was on the golf course that Palmer grew to become so strong, with barrel arms and hands of iron.

“When I was 6 years old, my father put me on a steel-wheeled tractor,” he recalled in a 2011 interview with the AP. “I had to stand up to turn the wheel. That’s one thing made me strong. The other thing was I pushed mowers. In those days, there were no motors on anything except the tractor. The mowers to cut greens with, you pushed.

“And it was this,” he said, patting his arms, “that made it go.”

Palmer joined the PGA Tour in 1955 and won the Canadian Open for the first of his 62 titles. He went on to win four green jackets at Augusta National, along with the British Open in 1961 and 1962 and the U.S. Open in 1960, perhaps the most memorable of his seven majors.

Nothing defined Palmer like that 1960 U.S. Open at Cherry Hills. He was seven shots behind going into the final round when he ran into Bob Drum, a Pittsburgh sports writer. Palmer asked if he could still win by shooting 65, which would give him a four-day total of 280. Drum told him that 280 “won’t do you a damn bit of good.”

Incensed, Palmer headed to the first tee and drove the green on the par-4 opening hole to make birdie. He birdied the next three holes, shot 65 and outlasted Ben Hogan and 20-year-old amateur Jack Nicklaus.

Palmer went head to head with Nicklaus two years later in a U.S. Open, the start of one of golf’s most famous rivalries. It was one-sided. Nicklaus went on to win 18 majors and was regarded as golf’s greatest champion. Palmer won two more majors after that loss, and his last PGA Tour win came in 1973 at the Bob Hope Classic.

Tom Callahan once described the difference between Nicklaus and Palmer this way: It’s as though God said to Nicklaus, “You will have skills like no other,” then whispered to Palmer, “But they will love you more.”

“I think he brought a lot more to the game than his game,” Nicklaus said in 2009. “What I mean by that is, there’s no question about his record and his ability to play the game. He was very, very good at that. But he obviously brought a lot more. He brought the hitch of his pants, the flair that he brought to the game, the fans that he brought into the game.”

Palmer combined power with charm, reckless abandon with graceful elegance. Golf no longer was a country club game for old men who were out of shape. He was a man’s man, and he brought that spirit to the sport.

It made him a beloved figure, and brought riches long after he stopped competing.

That started with a handshake agreement with IMG founder Mark McCormack to represent Palmer in contract negotiations. Palmer’s image was everywhere, from motor oil to ketchup to financial services companies. Even as late as 2011, nearly 40 years after his last PGA Tour win, Palmer was No. 3 on Golf Digest’s list of top earners at $36 million a year. He trailed only Woods and Phil Mickelson.

Palmer’s other love was aviation. He piloted his first aircraft in 1956, and 10 years later had a license to fly jets that now are the standard mode of transportation for so many top players, even though the majority of them are merely passengers. Palmer flew planes the way he played golf. He set a record in 1976 when he circumnavigated the globe in 57 hours, 25 minutes and 42 seconds in a Lear 36. He continued flying his Cessna Citation 10 until he failed to renew his license at age 81, just short of 20,000 hours in the cockpit.

Through it all, he touched more people than he could possibly remember, though he sure tried. When asked about the fans he attracted at Augusta National, Palmer once said, “Hell, I know most of them by name.”

Only four other players won more PGA Tour events than Palmer – Sam Snead, Nicklaus and Woods.

Palmer’s first wife, Winnie, died in 1999. They had two daughters, and grandson Sam Saunders plays on the PGA Tour. Palmer married Kathleen (Kit) Gawthrop in 2005.

Details on a memorial service and burial will be announced later.

Palmer was diagnosed with prostate cancer in 1997, which was caught early. He returned to golf a few months later, winking at fans as he waded through the gallery, always a smile and a signature for them.

“I’m not interested in being a hero,” Palmer said, implying that too much was made about his return from cancer. “I just want to play some golf.”

That, perhaps, is his true epitaph. Palmer lived to play.

ATLANTA – Rory McIlroy holed two shots on the 16th hole at East Lake that made him a most unlikely FedEx Cup champion on Sunday.

The first one he didn’t even see go in.

Three shots behind with three holes to play at the Tour Championship, McIlroy holed a pitching wedge from 137 yards for eagle that gave him the spark he needed to close with a 6-under 64 and join a three-way playoff with the FedEx Cup title riding on the outcome.

“I knew I was right back in the golf tournament,” he said.

Four playoff holes later on the 16th, after Ryan Moore made a par putt from just outside 15 feet, McIlroy knocked in his 15-foot birdie putt to win two trophies that he desperately wanted – the Tour Championship and the FedEx Cup.

“Just to see that ball drop, and everything that’s come together for me this year … to pull it off was really special,” McIlroy said, his voice still hoarse from screaming over so many quality shots, so many clutch moments over the final two hours at East Lake.

McIlroy picked up $11.53 million in one day – the $10 million FedEx Cup bonus and $1.53 million for the Tour Championship, his second victory in three weeks that made him the first player to win four FedEx Cup playoff events.

His only hope was to win the Tour Championship and have Dustin Johnson finish worse than second alone. Johnson closed with a 73 and tied for sixth.

In its 10th year, the FedEx Cup never had a finish like this.

Moore, who might have done enough to earn that last captain’s pick for the Ryder Cup, missed an 8-foot birdie putt by the slimmest of margins on the par-5 18th hole in regulation for a 64. In the playoff, he holed a 10-foot birdie putt with McIlroy facing a 6-foot eagle putt for the victory. McIlroy missed.

Even on the final hole, Moore gave McIlroy everything he had. His chip over a ridge raced well past the hole, and it looked as though McIlroy would only have to two-putt for the victory. Instead, Moore holed another big putt.

“I just wanted to make him earn it for that much money at least,” Moore said. “I wanted him to make the putt. It was nice to get up and make it, but you give a great player like him that many opportunities, and he’s going to make one eventually.”

Chappell had a two-shot lead with two holes to play when he made bogey on the 17th hole – only his third of the week at East Lake – and Moore birdied it in the group ahead of him. Chappell was woefully short on a 20-foot birdie putt on the 18th for the win, and he was eliminated with a par on the first playoff hole when he made par.

They finished at 12-under 268.

Johnson surprisingly was never a factor and he hit too many errant shots on the front nine and never recovered. He still would have won the FedEx Cup had either Moore or Chappell won the tournament, which he said “would have been really cool.”

“It didn’t feel right because I didn’t win the Tour Championship,” Johnson said. “That’s why I was here to win. I knew I controlled my own destiny.”

Johnson was second in the FedEx Cup and received a $3 million bonus.

McIlroy had control of this all along once he got into the playoff, except for one nervous moment.

He looked to put the perfect finish onto his big day when he hit out of the rough and over the water to 6 feet for an eagle putt on the par-5 18th in the first playoff hole. McIlroy was ready to pump his fist until his eagle putt slid by, and he removed his cap in disbelief.

Returning to the 18th, McIlroy missed an 18-foot birdie putt for the win. On the third extra hole, the par-3 15th over the water from 201 yards, McIlroy had to make a 7-foot par putt just to stay in the game.

Nothing was bigger than that birdie at the end. McIlroy stiffened his back, clutched both arms and shouted above the raucous cheers at East Lake.

“I’ve made it no secret that it’s one of the last things I feel like I had left on my golf CV, and I made it a big goal of mine to win it,” McIlroy said. “To be here and to win the FedEx Cup … to play the way I have in the last few weeks to get it done, is very special.”

It was the longest playoff in the 30-year history of the Tour Championship.

Moore had to wait two hours to see if his performance – a 66-64 weekend at East Lake – was worthy of a captain’s pick. Davis Love III was to announce his decision during halftime of the Sunday night NFL game.

Chappell headed into a month off trying to figure out what he has to do to win. He was runner-up for the fourth time this season – twice to Jason Day, the No. 1 player in the world, and once to McIlroy. In those final rounds, Chappell’s scores were 67, 69, 69 and 66.

“I’m proud of the way I fought,” he said. “It just wasn’t enough.”

COLUMBUS, Ohio – Grayson Murray won the Nationwide Children’s Hospital Championship on Sunday and Cameron Smith and Kevin Tway wrapped up PGA Tour cards.

Already guaranteed a PGA Tour card with an 18th-place finish on the Web.com Tour’s regular-season money list, Murray closed with a 3-under 68 to beat Smith by a stroke in the third of four events in the Web.com Tour Finals. Tway tied for third with third-round leader Martin Flores.

Murray finished at 12-under 272 on Ohio State’s Scarlet Course and earned $180,000 to jump from 11th to second with $407,963 on the PGA Tour priority list among the 25 card-earners from the Web.com money list. The former Wake Forest and Arizona State player will be 23 on Saturday.

Murray lost in a three-man playoff in August in the Web.com Tour event in Wichita, Kansas.

Smith also shot a 67. After finishing 157th in the PGA Tour’s FedEx Cups standings, the Australian made $108,000 to go from 48th to third with $114,910 in the series race for 25 more PGA Tour cards.

Tway had a 67 to match Flores (74) at 10 under. Tway was 27th on the Web.com money list. His $58,000 check moved him from 52nd to ninth with $63,975, more than enough to secure one of the 25 cards. The last PGA Tour card went at $33,650 in 2013, $36,312 in 2014 and $32,206 last year.

Flores earned a card with a fifth-place finish on the Web.com money list. He’s fifth on PGA Tour priority list with $346,313, with regular-season money counting in the total.

VICTORIA – Colin Montgomerie won the Pacific Links Bear Mountain Championship on Sunday, outlasting Scott McCarron with a birdie on the third hole of a playoff.

Montgomerie closed with a 4-under 67 to match McCarron at 15-under 198 at scenic Bear Mountain Resort, the first-year venue in the PGA Tour Champions event that was played in Hawaii from 2012-14.

McCarron bogeyed the par-5 18th in regulation for a 70.

Montgomerie and McCarron matched pars on 18 on the first two extra holes.

The 53-year-old Montgomerie’s three previous victories on the 50-and-over tour came in major championships – the 2014 and 2015 Senior PGA Championship and 2014 U.S. Senior Open. The Scot won 31 times on the European Tour and topped the tour’s money list a record eight times, seven in a row from 1993-99.

McCarron missed a chance for his second victory of the year after winning the Principal Charity Classic in June in Iowa for his first senior title.

Miguel Angel Jimenez shot a course-record 61 to tie for third at 13 under, finishing as Montgomerie and McCarron made the turn. The Spanish star played the first five holes on the back nine in 6 under with an eagle and five birdies, then closed with four pars to miss a chance to break 60.

Jeff Sluman (67), Scott Dunlap (68) and Doug Garwood (70) also were 13 under.

Bernhard Langer closed with a 63 to tie for seventh at 12 under. The 59-year-old German star leads the tour with four victories this season.

Fellow Hall of Famer Vijay Singh tied for 28th at 6 under after a 71.

Rod Spittle topped the four Canadians in the field, closing with a 65 to tie for 38th at 4 under. Jim Rutledge was 3 under after a 68, Stephen Ames 1 over after a 69, and Murray Poje had a 73 to finish last among the 78 finishers at 21 over.

BAD GRIESBACH, Germany – French golfer Alexander Levy wasted a four-shot lead but beat Ross Fisher of England in a playoff to win the shortened European Open on Sunday.

Levy had bogeys on the 16th and the 18th and narrowly missed a birdie putt on the 17th to finish the day at 2-under 69 and 19-under overall.

Fisher shot 7-under 64 on the final day but also missed a birdie putt on the 17th and tied with Levy on 19 under. Levy then made a birdie on the second playoff hole to claim the title.

The tournament was reduced to 54 holes because of fog delays over the first three days.

Levy entered the third and final round with a four-shot lead at 17 under after 36 bogey-free holes.

He had three bogeys in his first five holes as playing partner Fisher kept closing the gap to be one shot behind on the final tee.

The Frenchman put his second shot into the spectators’ area to send it into a playoff.

Levy missed his first three cuts of the season and then had two spells on the sidelines in the summer due to injury. But he has been in fine form since his return at the start of the month, finishing in a tie for seventh at last week’s Italian Open.

Two Swedes, Robert Karlsson (65) and Michael Jonzon (68), tied for third at 16 under.

ATLANTA – Dustin Johnson had a reasonable lie in the rough and only a few pine tree branches blocking his path to the 17th green. Neither seemed like a problem until he played the wrong shot, clipped the tree and wound up with a double bogey Saturday in the Tour Championship.

It was an example of how one hole can change everything at East Lake.

And it’s why the final round of the PGA Tour season suddenly has more scenarios than Johnson cares to consider.

Johnson recovered with a birdie from the bunker on the par-5 18th for a 1-under 69, giving him a share of the lead with Kevin Chappell (68) going into the last round that will determine who wins the Tour Championship and the FedEx Cup.

For the first time since 2009, there’s a chance it might not be the same player.

“There’s a lot of scenarios that could happen,” Johnson said. “But yeah, I’m still going to go out and try to shoot as low a score as possible.”

Johnson only has to win or finish second alone to claim the $10 million bonus as the FedEx Cup champion.

Rory McIlroy, who has gone 28 holes without a bogey at East Lake, had three birdies over his last six holes for a 66 and was two shots behind. If he were to win the Tour Championship and Johnson finished in a two-way tie for second or worse, McIlroy would claim the FedEx Cup.

“It would just be great to try to win the Tour Championship, and if the chips fall my way, then so be it,” McIlroy said.

The winner of the Tour Championship has won the FedEx Cup every year since 2009, when Phil Mickelson won the tournament and Tiger Woods won the FedEx Cup.

Johnson led by as many as four shots when he ran off three straight birdies on the front nine, and he really didn’t do much wrong to give up the size of that lead. He had a three-putt from 70 feet on No. 13, and missed the fairway by a few feet on the next hole, enough that his ball was buried so deep that even Johnson and his power couldn’t advance more than about 135 yards.

It was the 17th hole that reshaped the tournament.

Johnson tried to played a fade from a flyer lie in the rough, and the ball came out high and hit a branch, leaving him in more rough about 60 yards short of the green. He put that in the bunker, blasted out to 6 feet and missed the putt to make double bogey.

Chappell rolled in a 10-foot birdie putt for a three-shot swing on the hole and suddenly had the lead, only for Johnson to catch him with the final birdie.

They were at 8-under 202.

Chappell, a runner-up three times this season who has never won on the PGA Tour, has made only one bogey in 54 holes this week, a show of consistency, discipline and a few good breaks when he does miss the fairway.

His next chance at a breakthrough victory is to face golf’s best player at the moment (Johnson), with McIlroy and Ryan Moore (66) two shots behind.

“I’ve always kind of been the underdog, so it’s a role I’m comfortable in,” Chappell said.

Moore went out in 31 until he was slowed by a pair of bogeys, though very much in the mix just two shots out of the lead. The mystery is whether anything he does on Sunday – even if that means a victory – is enough for Davis Love III to use his last captain’s pick on Moore for the Ryder Cup.

“I came here this week to win a golf tournament, and I’m 100 per cent focused on that,” Moore said, adding that the Ryder Cup is “completely out of my control.”

And that’s how the last day is shaping up for everyone – post a score and see where it leads.

Johnson, for a moment, looked as though he might take all the drama out of the season-ender when he made a 15-foot par putt early in his round and then ran off three straight birdies on the front nine to go four shots clear.

The putter cooled off, however, and Chappell stayed in range.

Chappell chipped in on No. 12 to match birdies and stay three shots behind, and then he quickly closed the gap when Johnson made back-to-back bogeys, only to respond with a 4-iron over the water to a peninsula green on the par-3 15th to 15 feet for birdie.

The 17th hole changed everything.

“I thought about just trying to hit it in the front bunker, which I probably should have done – probably would have made 4 if I’d have done that,” Johnson said. “But it is what it is. I came back and birdied the last hole, tied for the lead going into tomorrow. I like my position.”

And he doesn’t need a degree in math to figure out the easiest scenario – just win.

VICTORIA – Scott McCarron eagled the par-5 12th and shot a 5-under 66 on Saturday to take a two-stroke lead in the Pacific Links Bear Mountain Championship.

The 51-year-old McCarron made an 8-foot putt for the eagle and added a birdie on the par-3 16th in chilly, overcast conditions at scenic Bear Mountain Resort, the first-year venue in the PGA Tour Champions event that was played in Hawaii from 2012-14.

McCarron had a 14-under 128 total after shooting a course-record 62 on Friday. The three-time PGA Tour winner won the Principal Charity Classic in June in Iowa for his first senior victory.

Doug Garwood was second after a 66. Winless on the 50-and-over tour, Garwood played the front nine in 6-under 20, birdieing the first three holes and the last three. He lost the lead with a bogey and McCarron’s eagle on 12, had a double bogey on the par-3 14th and birdies 17 and 18.

Colin Montgomerie was 11 under. The Scot birdied the final two holes for a bogey-free 67

Scott Dunlop birdied the last two holes for a 65 to reach 10 under, and Jeff Maggert, Mark O’Meara and Brian Henninger each shot 64 to join Olin Browne (67) and Jeff Sluman (68) at 9 under.

Vijay Singh was 6 under after a 69. He bogeyed three of the last five holes.

Fellow Hall of Famer Bernhard Langer bogeyed the last for a 68 that left him 10 strokes back at 4 under. The 59-year-old German star leads the tour with four victories this season.

Jim Rutledge topped the four Canadians in field, shooting a 69 to move into a tie for 51st at even par. Stephen Ames was 1 over after a 69.

RIVIERA MAYA, Mexico  ─ Led by Team Canada’s Hugo Bernard of Mont-St-Hilaire, Que., the Canadian contingent had its best day Friday at the men’s World Amateur Team Championship.

Playing in the morning wave, Canada improved its standing 12 places with an 8-under 136 and is now tied for 11th. Bernard, the 2016 Canadian Amateur champion, carded a 66, while Garrett Rank, who works as a National Hockey League official, had a 70.

Bernard birdied three of the four par 3s. He struck an 8-iron to within 8 feet at No.8 and hit a three-quarter pitching wedge to set up another birdie at No. 15.

“He’s a wonderful iron player,” said Doug Roxburgh, who has served as the Canadian captain seven times. “I have only seen him hit a couple of irons that were not directly at the pin. He’s a big, strong guy who takes advantage of his length.”

Jared du Toit, Kimberley, B.C., the best trio in the first two rounds, tallied a 3-over 75, which didn’t count for Canada. After 54 holes, Canada has a cumulative score of 10-over 420.

Australia took a nearly insurmountable 16-stroke lead after 54 holes with a team score of 32-under-par 398 at the par-72, 6,888-yard Iberostar Playa Paraiso Golf Club.

Ireland moved into second place at 16-under par after registering a third-round 135.

England, Austria and Poland are tied for fourth at 13-under.

A biennial competition, the World Amateur Team Championship has been played since 1958, with the winner taking home the Eisenhower Trophy. The United States won the 2014 title in Karuizawa, Japan, by two strokes over the Canadian contingent of Corey Conners (Listowel, Ont.), Taylor Pendrith (Richmond Hill, Ont.) and Adam Svensson (Surrey, B.C.).

In 28 appearances at the World Amateur Team Championship, Canada has captured the Eisenhower Trophy on one occasion (1986) and earned runner-up honours five times.

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