JERSEY CITY, N.J. – The harder he worked, the farther Patrick Reed felt he was falling behind. That’s when the people around him sought drastic measures by making him leave his golf clubs alone for 10 whole days.

Recharged from his pre-summer break, Reed finally found the result he was looking for Sunday in The Northern Trust, and it couldn’t have come at a better time.

He delivered key shots on three straight holes on the back nine at Liberty National – two for birdie, one for par – to overtake Jon Rahm, hold off Abraham Ancer, close with a 2-under 69 and win the FedEx Cup opener.

It was his first victory in 16 months over 41 tournaments worldwide dating to the 2018 Masters.

“The longer that time period is in between wins, it just makes it tougher,” Reed said. “I was pushing too hard and was trying harder and all of a sudden, it was going the wrong direction. My team was smart enough to tell me to back off, shut it down and reset and get clear, because we can finish the year right. We can get a couple Ws, and no better place that starting the first week of the playoffs.”

Points are quadrupled in the PGA Tour post-season, so the victory vaulted Reed from No. 50 to No. 2. His place in the Tour Championship is secure. His odds of the $15 million prize are greatly increased.

It still wasn’t enough for him to get in the top eight qualifiers for the Presidents Cup, to be decided after next week. Reed went to No. 12 and he would have to win the BMW Championship next week to qualify.

Even so, it was the kind of victory to at least get the attention of U.S. captain Tiger Woods.

Reed finished at 16-under 268 and won for the seventh time in his career on the PGA Tour.

Ancer felt like a winner when it was over. He also played bogey-free over the final 12 holes, and his birdie on the 17th gave him hope. But his approach to the 18th came down below a ridge, and his long birdie putt to force a playoff went some 6 feet by the cup. He made that to finish alone in second, his best PGA Tour finish.

That was enough to send him from No. 67 to No. 8, with more perks that he could count.

Ancer is a lock to make it to the Tour Championship in two weeks, meaning he earns his first spot in the Masters. He wrapped up a spot on the International team for the Presidents Cup, making him the first Mexican in the event.

“When I finished, I was a little down because I didn’t get it done and I feel like I played good,” Ancer said. “But then getting all this news that I’m going to the Tour Championship, playing all the majors, going to Masters, all that, I was like, ‘Man, this is not too bad.’ I’m extremely happy, proud of the way I performance. I still obviously want that W, but really proud with all the boxes that I checked off today.”

Rahm wasn’t quite that happy.

He made a 12-foot birdie putt on No. 12 and reached the par-5 13th in two to set up another birdie, giving him a two-shot lead. And then it all fell apart for the Spaniard. He was on the wrong side of the green at the par-3 14th and three-putted for bogey from 50 feet. His tee shot narrowly found a bunker on the 15th, leaving him no shot at reaching the green, and he had to scramble for bogey from the thick grass behind the green.

Rahm never caught up, closed with a 69 and tied for third with Harold Varner III.

Corey Conners of Listowel, Ont., was the top Canadian at 8 under after posting a final round of 2-under 69. Adam Hadwin of Abbotsford, B.C., also shot 69 Sunday and finished at 4 under. Roger Sloan of Merritt. B.C., struggled Sunday with a final round of 74 to finish at 1 under, one stroke ahead of Mackenzie Hughes of Dundas, Ont. (73).

Reed began his move with a pitching wedge that caught the ridge at the back of the 14th green perfectly, sending it down to 8 feet for birdie. He was in thick rough right of the 15th green and looked certain to drop a shot when he holed a 10-foot putt for par. And then he pitched perfectly from 25 yards short of the 16th green to about 4 feet for birdie.

The top 70 in the FedEx Cup advance to the BMW Championship next week at Medinah, so there were other players who took home consolation prizes. One of the strongest bids belonged to Joaquin Niemann of Chile, who was in the middle of the pack and knew it would be close.

He slammed his iron into the turf on the 15th when he hit into a bunker, such was pressure on him. Niemann made a 6-foot par save there, drove the green on the 296-yard 16th hole for birdie, saved another par on the 17th and closed with a 66.

He tied for 30th, enough to move up four spots and get the 70th spot.

Varner might have had the biggest day in that regard. He started the PGA Tour post-season at No. 102, and while he came up two shot of his first PGA Tour victory, his tie for third moved him to No. 29. That not only gets him in the BMW Championship, he has a realistic shot at East Lake.

Reed will be there, a trip that most likely began with that 10-day break in the Hamptons. He had a rental house with a manicured yard 300 yards long and 50 yards wide, ideal for hitting balls, and he didn’t touch a club.

The vacation was two weeks, though. When the 10 days were up, he was at National Golf Links the next morning, drove the first green and made eagle.

JERSEY CITY, N.J. – Dustin Johnson has missed nine birdie chances from 10 feet or closer at Liberty National, which ordinarily might annoy him.

He’s hitting it so well that he still leads The Northern Trust Open.

Johnson birdied three of his last six holes Friday, finishing with an approach to 8 feet on the 489-yard closing hole, for a 4-under 67 that gave him a one-shot lead over Jordan Spieth (64) going into the weekend.

Johnson has won this FedEx Cup playoffs opener twice at other courses. He was at 12-under 130.

“I’ve got a lot of control with the golf ball and hitting a lot of really nice shots and rolled in a couple putts today which is nice, but still feel like I left quite a few out there,” Johnson said. “I’m in a good position heading into the weekend, and if I can keep swinging the way I am, I think it’s going to be a good weekend.”

The weekend does not include Masters champion Tiger Woods, and neither did Friday.

Woods, who opened with a 75, withdrew a few hours before his second round was to begin because of what he described as a mild strain to the oblique that Woods says was causing pain and stiffness. It’s the first time he withdrew in the middle of a tournament since February 2017, two months before fusion surgery on his lower back. He said he was hopeful to play next week at Medinah.

Spieth might be finding some form at just the right time. Winless in more than two years, he started the PGA Tour’s post-season at No. 69 in the FedEx Cup with no assurance of staying among the top 70 who advance to next week at Medinah.

He might be one round away from thinking more about winning. Spieth was on the same score (131) that he was going into the weekend last week at the Wyndham Championship, where he followed with a 77 and missed the 54-hole cut. His shots have been tighter, his misses not that severe and he even got some good fortune on his final hole that led to a birdie and a spot in the last group with a familiar face.

Johnson and Spieth have played together at the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am each of the last five years.

The opening playoff event had a strong cast of contenders, with Jon Rahm and Patrick Reed two shots behind, and Justin Rose and Rory McIlroy among those another shot back. McIlroy was just happy he wasn’t farther behind.

He walked off the par-3 14th with a double bogey because of a two-shot penalty from the bunker. McIlroy went to remove a small stone next to his ball, but realized when he touched it and it disintegrated that it was a clump of wet sand from a brief storm delay.

The original ruling was a penalty. The PGA Tour reviewed it as McIlroy played the last four holes, spoke to him after the round and determined that was no intent to improve his lie. His 70 became a 68.

“The reason I called someone over is I don’t want anything on my conscience, either,” McIlroy said. “I feel like I play the game with integrity and I’m comfortable saying that I didn’t improve anything. I thought it was a rock. It wasn’t. I moved my hand away, and then I was like, ‘I don’t know if I’ve done anything wrong here.’

“It came down to me and they said, ‘OK, are you comfortable telling us you didn’t improve your lie?’ And for me, I am comfortable saying that.”

Missing the cut meant the end of the season for at least two dozen players who would not be among the top 70, which includes Bubba Watson. Sergio Garcia would appear to be a casualty having started at No. 65 and not making it to the weekend.

The first step for Spieth was to make sure he stayed in the top 70. Now it’s about contending.

“The important thing for me is not to get ahead of myself,” Spieth said. “Historically, I’m a very consistent player. I’ve lost a bit of that. I still have the firepower but that consistency is what I’m trying to get back, and there’s certainly going to be times where I’m out of position over the weekend. It’s about limiting mistakes. One bogey over 36 holes is somewhat unrealistic week to week. But if I can hold it close to that for the next 36, again, that firepower is still there. And it would certainly shoot my confidence up.”

Johnson’s year has been quiet since winning a World Golf Championship in Mexico City for his 20th career victory. Another year passed without winning a major. He was runner-up in the first two majors, but he hasn’t finish better than 20th since the PGA Championship.

He feels the consistency in his swing is returning. And while he’s not making everything, he’s making enough and likes the way he’s rolling it.

“I feel like I’m stroking it well right now,” he said. “I worked on the stroke a lot the last couple weeks and feel good and I have confidence in it.”

Full scoring can be found here.

JERSEY CITY, N.J. – Troy Merritt isn’t obsessed with his position in the FedEx Cup and what he needs to advance in the PGA Tour’s post-season. He figures the best solution is good golf, and he delivered his best round of the year Thursday in The Northern Trust.

Merritt began with a 10-foot par save, followed with a pair of 20-foot birdie putts and took advantage of calm, rain-softened Liberty National by tying the course record with a 9-under 62 for a one-shot lead over Dustin Johnson.

It wasn’t a career low – Merritt twice has shot 61 on the PGA Tour – but it might have been his best round hardly anyone saw.

The storm was so fierce on the eve of the FedEx Cup playoffs opener that the public was not allowed in until 10 a.m., nearly three hours after the round began. And when the fans arrived, most of them were watching the action – what little there was – two groups behind him with Tiger Woods.

Woods, in only his third round since the U.S. Open, made double bogey on the shortest hole on the course, three-putted from 15 feet and had three bogeys from the fairway in a listless round of 75. Along with being 13 shots out of the lead, he was in danger of missing the cut for the first time in the FedEx Cup playoffs, which also would jeopardize a return to East Lake for the Tour Championship.

“We all knew it was soft out here with the rain last night,” Woods said. “I knew I had to go get it, post a low one, and didn’t do it. It’s certainly out there. Greens are soft. Fairways are soft. You can play aggressively and not have any real ramifications for playing aggressive.”

Johnson ran off four straight birdies near the end of his round for a 63, a good start in a tournament he already has won twice.

Kevin Kisner and Jon Rahm were at 64, while the group at 65 included Rory McIlroy and the suddenly hot Webb Simpson, who posted his sixth straight round of 65 or better dating to the final round of the FedEx St. Jude Invitational two weeks ago.

Corey Conners of Listowel, Ont., was the top Canadian at 5-under 66, one shot ahead of Adam Hadwin of Abbotsford, B.C.

Roger Sloan of Merritt, B.C., and Nick Taylor of Abbotsford were at 3-under 68, while Mackenzie Hughes of Dundas, Ont., was at 2-over 73.

The wind arrived in the afternoon, slowing the onslaught of low scores, with no round better than the 66 by Justin Rose.

“Got a bit tricky this afternoon,” Rose said. “I didn’t pay too much attention to this morning’s scores. Saw a scoreboard at one points – 9 (under), 8, 7s, 6s – and I knew it was on. This golf course, if you’re playing well, you can take it on and challenge it. … If you’re not 100 per cent on your game, you have to play conservatively.”

Merritt is No. 72 in the FedEx Cup, with the top 70 advancing next week to the BMW Championship at Medinah. Points are quadrupled in the post-season.

“I know good golf will take care of itself,” he said. “You just try to play the best you can. Obviously, I’ll be watching throughout the weekend, but just getting off to a good start, put that to the back of the mind and try to win a golf tournament.”

Johnson has no such worries as the No. 7 seed, though this time of the year means a lot to him only because of past failures. The FedEx Cup isn’t the same as winning a major championship, and Johnson has gone three years since his lone major at the 2016 U.S. Open.

He narrowly lost out on the FedEx Cup in 2016 when he had a share of the 54-hole lead, shot 73 and still could have won the cup if anyone but McIlroy had won. McIlroy won in a playoff. Four other times he went to the Tour Championship among the top five seeds and didn’t get it done.

“Absolutely – especially with what they’re paying this year,” he said with a smile, referring to the $15 million payout. “That’s like winning five majors.”

His math was a little off, but point taken – his interest level is high, and his game was sharp. Even with a 63, Johnson couldn’t help but recall four birdie putts of inside 10 feet in a five-hole stretch around the turn that didn’t fall.

Brooks Koepka, who has won four majors in the last three years, still hasn’t found his groove in the FedEx Cup. Koepka is the No. 1 seed. In 15 playoffs events, he has managed only two top 10s – his best is sixth place at the Tour Championship two years ago – and he didn’t get off to a great start at Liberty National with only three birdies in his round of 70. Either way, he’s assured of being in East Lake.

That isn’t the case for the likes of Phil Mickelson at No. 34, who opened with a 72. And it’s never been this big of a struggle for Jordan Spieth, who is No. 69 and can’t even bank on next week. He played bogey-free for a 67 in the afternoon.

“I don’t like starting where I did this playoffs, and I don’t plan on ever starting this far down again,” Spieth said before he paused to smile. “Last year I said that, and then I did. But things are improving. Today was a good day.”

GREENSBORO, N.C. – J.T. Poston kept racking up birdies and pars – but no bogeys – at the Wyndham Championship. They added up to his first PGA Tour victory – and a first-time-in-decades achievement.

Poston shot an 8-under 62 on Sunday for a one-stroke victory at the tour’s regular-season finale.

Canadians Corey Conners (Listowel, Ont.) and Mackenzie Hughes (Dundas, Ont.) finished in a tie for 22nd at 13 under.

Poston tied Henrik Stenson’s 2-year-old tournament record at 22-under 258, and became the first player since Lee Trevino in 1974 to win a 72-hole stroke-play event on tour without any bogeys or worse.

“I probably haven’t had that many bogey-free rounds this year,” Poston said. “To be able to do four in a row is pretty special, and finish it off with a 62 on Sunday is pretty awesome.”

The native North Carolinian began his round three strokes back, took the lead for good with – what else? – a birdie on the par-5 15th hole, then finished with three straight pars to earn $1,116,000 and 500 FedEx Cup points.

Webb Simpson was at 21 under after a 65. Byeong Hun An, who held or shared the lead after each of the first three rounds, three-putted the 18th for a bogey and a 67 to finish two shots back. Trying to force a playoff with a birdie, he nearly holed a 60-footer but had it run well past.

“Nothing was really working at the end,” An said. “I just ran out of juice.”

Poston, a former Western Carolina golfer playing a 100-mile drive from his hometown of Hickory, became the third player in 11 years with strong local ties to win at Sedgefield Country Club. He joined 2008 winner Carl Petterson – a Swede who grew up in Greensboro – and Simpson, the 2011 champion who’s from Raleigh and played college golf at Wake Forest.

“To be able to do it here in North Carolina, with a lot of friends and family, I don’t think I could have drawn it up any better,” Poston said.

Poston closed the gap with An with three birdies and an eagle on the front nine.

Then came the key hole: No. 15. Poston took sole possession of the lead with a birdie on that hole after placing a bunker chip 6 feet from the flagstick.

An, playing two groups behind Poston, sent his tee shot on that hole into the weeds. He took a penalty stroke, then landed his third shot left of the green, left his chip 35 feet short and dropped to 20 under after two-putting for his first bogey of the tournament.

“The bogey was definitely the killer, I think, because I knew I needed to make a birdie there,” An said.

After a birdie on the next hole and a par on 17, An needed to finish with a birdie to force a playoff. He sent his tee shot into the trees and recovered by landing his second shot 60 feet from the pin.

Simpson – who finished second for the second straight week – earned his seventh top-10 finish at this tournament since 2010 and climbed to No. 9 on the playoff points list, earning $550,000 in bonus money as part of the inaugural Wyndham Rewards Top 10 program.

“Honestly, it wasn’t even on the radar going into Memphis (last week),” Simpson said. “I was too far back, I thought, unless I did something crazy. So yeah, it was on my mind this week.”

Nine players started this tournament with a shot at some of that cash, but only Simpson and Paul Casey came away with some. Casey finished eighth on the points list and earned $600,000.

The other annual subplot at Sedgefield focused on the players on the playoff bubble. Two players who began the tournament outside the top 125 – No. 129 Patton Kizzire and No. 134 Andrew Landry – played their way into the field for The Northern Trust next week in New Jersey. An average of 2.7 players played their way into the top 125 in this tournament’s previous dozen years as the tour’s final pre-playoff event.

“I definitely knew what I was playing for,” Kizzire said.

Full results can be found here.

GREENSBORO, N.C. – Byeong Hun An shot a 4-under 66 on Saturday for a one-stroke lead after three rounds at the Wyndham Championship.

An was at 17-under 193 entering the final round of the PGA Tour’s final event before the playoffs.

Former Wyndham winner Webb Simpson and Brice Garnett were tied for second, with Simpson shooting a 65 and Garnett a 66. Ryan Armour was 15 under following a 65.

An has held or shared the lead after each of the first three rounds, and has yet to play a hole worse than par. The 27-year-old South Korean with three international victories has put himself in position to claim his first win on tour.

Canadian Mackenzie of Dundas, Ont., is in a tie for 10th at 12 under par. Fellow countryman Adam Svensson of Surrey, B.C., is tied for 16th at 11 under.

Overall, it was yet another low-scoring day at Sedgefield Country Club. For a while midway through An’s round, six players were tied for the lead at 13 under.

An started to get some separation from the crowd with three birdies in the four-hole span from Nos. 5-8, moving to 16 under.

Then came his best shot of the day, a 50-foot birdie putt on the par-4 14th. He then closed with four straight pars.

Simpson – a native North Carolinian who named his daughter Wyndham after his first career victory came here in 2011 – strung together three birdies around a bogey midway through his back nine to move to 16 under. If nothing else, he’s in good position to claim his fifth top-10 finish in six years at this tournament.

Garnett made the turn at 15 under following back-to-back birdies, then rolled in a 30-foot birdie putt on the 17th to pull even with Simpson and saved par on the 18th after rolling his third shot from a greenside bunker to within 3 feet from the flagstick.

Armour climbed into contention with six birdies in a 10-hole stretch midway through his round that put him two strokes back.

And Viktor Hovland finished his season-best round with a birdie on the 18th after landing his 150-yard approach shot some 3 feet from the flagstick. He was tied for fifth with J.T. Poston and Paul Casey at 14 under.

After winning the U.S. Amateur last year, Hovland turned pro two months ago after tying for 12th at the U.S. Open.

“I just try to tell myself that I don’t have anything to lose,” Hovland said. “I’ll be on the Korn Ferry Tour no matter what happens kind of unless I play really well tomorrow, and to be in the spot where I am right now after college, that’s a pretty good spot to be in.”

It wasn’t a low-scoring day for everyone, though: Jordan Spieth had three double-bogeys and a bogey during a birdie-free 77 that left him at 2 under for the tournament. It came two days after he flirted with a career-best round, putting just 23 times during his first-round 64.

“I putted my (butt) off for two days to be able to be where I was at, and you can’t exactly fix your ball striking in a day,” Spieth said. “It’s just too much to try and force it. So this extra day could serve me really well through the playoffs.”

GREENSBORO, N.C. – Canada’s Adam Svensson made a run at golf’s magic number before settling for a 9-under 61 on Friday at the Wyndham Championship.

The 59 watch was on after the 25-year-old golfer from Surrey, B.C., made seven birdies for a 28 on the front nine at a soft and wet Sedgefield Country Club. But Svensson cooled down with two birdies on the back nine, preventing him from becoming just the 10th player in PGA Tour history to shoot 59.

“I was kind of like, all right, I’m 9 under par (after No. 13) and there’s still four or five holes and a par 5,” Svensson said. “I was actually pretty calm. I thought I would be a little more nervous than I was.”

Svensson was tied with Canadian Mackenzie Hughes and four others in third place heading into the weekend at 11 under – two strokes behind leader Byeong Hun An.

An was at 13-under 127 halfway through the PGA Tour’s final event before the FedEx Cup playoffs. Brice Garnett was a stroke back after a 64.

Adam Hadwin of Abbotsford, B.C., was the lone Canadian to shoot 59 on the PGA Tour, doing so in 2017 at the CareerBuilder Challenge.

Svensson missed a five-foot putt for birdie at No. 15 and a 15-footer for birdie at No. 17, pretty much ending his shot at a 59. He made an 11-foot par putt on No. 18 to complete a bogey-free round.

“I was happy with the way I played. I had a couple missed putts coming down the stretch,” he said.

59 watch for Canadian @adamsvensson59 ??

He needs to go 2 under in his final 4 holes @WyndhamChamp pic.twitter.com/HSYPd0n8EZ

— Golf Canada (@GolfCanada) August 2, 2019

Hughes, from Dundas, Ont., shot 66 after opening with a 63 to stay in contention entering the third round.

Three other Canadians made the cut. Corey Conners of Listowel, Ont., (66) and Roger Sloan of Merritt, B.C., (66) are 5 under, while Mike Weir of Brights Grove, Ont., (69) is 4 under.

The 61 came at a great time for Svensson, a PGA Tour rookie. He sat 171st in the FedEx Cup standings entering the Wyndham Championship, the final event before the playoffs.

The top 125 qualify for the playoffs and guarantee themselves PGA Tour cards for next season. If Svensson does not reach the top 125, he’ll have to go to the Korn Ferry Tour Finals to try to maintain his status on the top tour.

“I was talking to Danny (Sahl), my caddie, who said, ‘You know what? Go out and just no pressure, just go out there and play and see what we can do,”’ Svensson said.

Svensson also shot a 61 in January in the first round of the Sony Open in Hawaii. He is the only player this season to shoot multiple rounds of 61 or better.

An made his move up the leaderboard with three straight birdies late in his round.

Finishing on the back nine, the 27-year-old South Korean who’s winless on tour had birdies on Nos. 3-5 and closed his second consecutive bogey-free round with four straight pars.

“I came close last couple years and, you know, maybe this week might do it,” An said about that long-awaited first victory. “But still have two more days and there are a lot of players behind me. … Just do what I’ve been doing the last couple days and just hit a lot of fairways and greens and make some putts. If someone plays better than me, then he deserves to win it, but as long as I keep these bogey-free rounds going.”

GREENSBORO, N.C. – Byeong Hun An and Sungjae Im each shot 8-under 62 on Thursday to share the lead after one round at the Wyndham Championship.

Mackenzie Hughes, Rory Sabbatini, Patrick Rodgers and Johnson Wagner were a stroke back behind the South Korean leaders in the final PGA Tour event before the FedEx Cup playoffs.

Former Wyndham winners Brandt Snedeker and Webb Simpson joined Jordan Spieth among the nine players at 64.

The co-leaders shot the best rounds of their PGA Tour careers. An, a 27-year-old South Korean seeking his first career victory on tour, closed with birdies on four of his final six holes and a sand save on the par-4 18th.

An had four birdies on the front nine at Sedgefield Country Club along with those four on the back nine during his bogey-free round. He hit 15 greens in regulation.

“I’ve got to do a couple more of these rounds,” An said. “One good round won’t do it, so I need to keep it up and make a lot of birdies.”

Im, one of nine players in the field with a chance at finishing in the top 10 on the points list and earning some bonus money as part of the new Wyndham Rewards Top 10 program, had three straight birdies on Nos. 14-16 and also was bogey-free. He started at No. 25 on the points list.

For a while, it looked as though Spieth would join them atop the leaderboard – teeing off on No. 18 one stroke behind the leaders, but he sent his drive out of bounds. After taking the penalty stroke, he placed his fourth stroke 21 feet from the flagstick and rolled in that putt for arguably the best bogey of the day.

“I got up there and had a putt at it, I was just trying to get the right speed,” Spieth said. “And 5 feet to go, it looked really good, just like they did all day.”

Spieth had just 23 putts during his round.

“You want putts for birdie. You want to be hitting greens in regulation,” Spieth said. “Really, two bad swings today kept it from being my lowest round on the PGA Tour. There’s a lot of good in that.”

At No. 67 on the points list, Spieth – the 2015 FedEx Cup champion – is in no danger of missing the post-season.

Others at Sedgefield aren’t so secure.

The top 125 qualify for The Northern Trust next week at Liberty National, and are assured of keeping their tour cards for next season, if they don’t already have them.

Garnett, who started at No. 121 on the points list, and Power, who is No. 144, are among those who are squarely on the playoff bubble.

“I know if it doesn’t go well where I’m going,” said Josh Teater, who is No. 165. “So I kind of made that up … in my mind a few weeks back that, hey, if I make all three cuts and finish 40th, it makes no difference, so let’s go try to play great and if we end up playing terrible, it doesn’t matter.”

The other main subplot at Sedgefield is the chase for the top 10 and the remaining $5.3 million in bonus money that is still up for grabs. The top three spots have been locked up.

Paul Casey, who at No. 8 on the points list is the highest-ranked player in the field. Eight other players, including Simpson, began the tournament with a shot at climbing into the top 10 and claiming some of that bonus cash.

“I sound free-wheeling and I am, I’m very kind of in a position where I can only improve my position in the FedExCup and maybe grab a bigger Wyndham Rewards than I already kind of got,” Casey said after his 65. “It’s not locked up, there’s still guys that can pass me. But yeah, I want to move up, plain and simple.”

MEMPHIS, Tenn. – Brooks Koepka knows everyone wanted to see a tight final-round duel with Rory McIlroy.

“That would have been incredible for the fans, for everybody that showed up and I’m sure that’s what everybody wanted,” Koepka said.

Too bad Koepka drained all the drama Sunday on the way to his first World Golf Championships title.

Koepka had three birdies in a four-hole stretch on the front nine and cruised to a three-stroke victory in the FedEx St. Jude Invitational.

Canadian Corey Conners of Listowel, Ont., closed at 3 under par to finish tied for 27th.

Playing with McIlroy in their first final-group pairing, the top-ranked Koepka closed with a bogey-free 5-under 65 at TPC Southwind for his seventh PGA Tour title. He finished at 16-under 264.

McIlroy followed his third-round 62 with a 71 to drop into a tie for fourth at 11 under. McIlroy declined to talk to reporters after the round.

“Rory didn’t play the way he wanted to today, but still it’s so much fun to watch him play,” Koepka said. “You kind of get glued watching him hit balls. I mean, it’s mesmerizing watching him hit. You know it’s always nice to squeak out a victory over probably the best player right now.”

Webb Simpson had a 64 to finish second. Marc Leishman (67) was third, four strokes back. Tommy Fleetwood (66) and Matthew Fitzpatrick (69) joined McIlroy at 11 under.

Koepka wrapped up the regular-season points title a week early and claimed a $2 million bonus from the Wyndham Rewards program. He is assured to going into the FedEx Cup playoffs as the No. 1 seed.

Koepka became the sixth player to win a major championship and a World Golf Championship in the same year. He won the PGA Championship for the second straight year in May.

After tapping in for par on No. 18, Koepka celebrated with a little fist pump before hugging McIlroy.

Koepka had been so close in recent weeks, coming in second at the U.S. Open in June and tying for fourth last week at the British Open. He also had a pair of top-10 finishes in this event when it was held at Firestone Country Club in Akron, Ohio, and he also won for the first time at the TPC Southwind, where he tied for third in 2015 and tied for second in 2016 when this course hosted the former St. Jude Classic.

Koepka says he feels he knows this course better than any other on tour, and finally winning here and a WGC title, too, is special.

“It’s a thinker’s golf course,” Koepka said. “I probably don’t get enough thought process going through my mind sometimes, just get up and hit it. It gets very routine. A lot of times it’s drivers, but out here you’ve really got to position yourself off the tee depending on where the pin is.”

Now Koepka has come from behind in three of his seven victories, though this time teeing off only a stroke off the lead. When they teed off, Koepka was among 10 players within four strokes of leader McIlroy.

After a couple of pars, Koepka took control.

Koepka rolled in a 9-footer for birdie and a share of the lead on the par-5 third he bogeyed in each of the first two rounds for a nice confidence boost. McIlroy missed his own 4-foot birdie chance a couple inches left after chipping from behind a green-side bunker.

Then Koepka hit his second shot on the par-4 fifth from 185 yards to 5 feet for his second birdie and the outright lead, while McIlroy’s second was on the left fringe with his attempt 5 feet short on yet another par. Koepka birdied his second straight on the par-4 sixth, rolling in a 20-footer for a two-stroke lead .

Koepka padded that lead after the turn, hitting his second from 143 to 8 feet on the par-4 10th. Koepka rolled in the birdie putt to go to 15 under with a three-stroke lead making the only question left whether anyone could get close.

He created the last of the drama by scrambling for par on the next two holes. He put his second into the intermediate rough on the edge of the green on No. 15, forcing him to hole a 9-footer, with a poor chip on the par-5 16th leading to another par. But he clinched the win with a 12-footer on No. 17.

McIlroy had won three of his previous four when shooting at least a 62 in an event. The Northern Irishman who missed the cut at the British Open by a stroke last week just couldn’t keep up with Koepka.

Simpson eagled No. 3 and added a birdie on No. 6. Then he added four birdies on the back nine and tied the best round of the day with his best round since winning the 2018 Players Championship.

“Knowing that Brooks Koepka and Rory are out in front, I knew it needed to be a low round,” Simpson said. “I didn’t have a number in mind. … Very happy with how the day went.

Divots: Koepka, who won the CJ Cup in South Korea last October, also is the first on tour with three wins this season. … Justin Thomas, who won this event in Ohio last year, tied for 12th. Johnson, who won the FedEx St. Jude Classic here last year, tied for 20th.

RENO, Nev. – Collin Morikawa birdied his last three holes Sunday to win the Barracuda Championship, making him the second player this summer to go from college to a PGA Tour winner.

Morikawa, who graduated from Cal last month, closed with seven birdies against no bogeys in the modified Stableford scoring system, giving him 14 points in the final round at Montreaux Golf and Club.

He finished with 47 points for a three-point victory over Troy Merritt, who had the lead on the back nine until the 22-year-old Morikawa made his final charge. Merritt had a chance to win on the par-5 18th with an eagle, but his chip raced 12 feet by the hole and he missed the birdie putt. He finished with seven points in the round.

Canadian Roger Sloan of Merritt, B.C., finished with a share of 7th place at 37 over par.

Robert Streb, tied for the lead after a birdie on No. 10, finished with eight pars and tied for third with John Chin.

Morikawa joins Matthew Wolff of Oklahoma State as players who have gone straight from college to their first PGA Tour victory. Wolff won the 3M Open in Minnesota three weeks ago, making an eagle putt on the final hole to beat Morikawa.

“It was something really special to finally get the win,” Morikawa said.

He was doing everything right leading up to his big moment at Montreaux. He has made the cut in all six of his starts since his May 18 graduation, including his tie for 35th in the U.S. Open at Pebble Beach. After his runner-up to Wolff in Minnesota, he tied for fourth in the John Deere Classic and then won the Barracuda Championship.

His 14 points translate to a 65, meaning Morikawa has an average final round of 66.83, his worst Sunday score a 69 in the U.S. Open.

While he was already assured of a PGA Tour card for next year with his good results, the victory gives him membership immediately, with his points retroactive. Morikawa is at No. 46 in the FedEx Cup, and he cracked the top 100 in the world ranking.

He earned $630,000, giving him $1,672,904 since graduating college just over two months ago.

The victory does not get him into the Masters, however, because the Barracuda Championship was held opposite a World Golf Championships event.

Morikawa began his move after having to settle for par – no points – on the par-5 13th, leaving him three points behind Merritt who was in the fairway behind him. Morikawa holed an 8-foot birdie putt on the 14th, and his best shot was on the par-3 16th, when he went at a back pin with a high cut into the breeze to 10 feet on the fringe and made the birdie putt.

His biggest shot was on the next hole when he holed a 30-foot birdie putt with enough pace that it might have gone some 6 feet by the hole. That set him up for the closing hole, where his 4-iron came up short of the green with a front pin, and he used putter to roll it to 2 feet for a tap-in birdie.

“It felt good to make that putt, but obviously I had one more hole to play,” Morikawa said. “There was a lot of points on the board left, and I knew I had business to do on 18. And I hit three good shots and was able to tap in for birdie.”

Merritt trailed for the first time on the back nine when Morikawa made his birdie on the 16th. He answered with a 30-foot birdie from the fringe on the 16th, and he saved par with a 5-foot putt on the 17th to stay one point behind.

Morikawa’s final birdie meant Merritt had to make eagle (worth 5 points) to win. A birdie is worth two points and would not be enough. His approach came up short, and his chip stayed left of the hole.

MEMPHIS, Tenn. – Nobody likes missing the cut by a stroke, and doing it in a major championship at home hurts even more.

Rory McIlroy is showing he can bounce back quickly.

McIlroy shot an 8-under 62 on Saturday in the FedEx St. Jude Invitational to take a one-stroke lead over Brooks Koepka at the World Golf Championships event.

Corey Conners of Listowel, Ont., is at 2 under, in a tie for 30th.

McIlroy, who missed the cut by a stroke last week in the British Open on his home turf in Northern Ireland, had a nine-birdie, one-bogey round to move from a tie for 17th to the top of the leaderboard at TPC Southwind. The man who shattered the screen of a woman’s cellphone with his opening tee shot at Royal Portrush finished the round Saturday with three straight birdies.

“I guess the pressure’s off a little bit,” McIlroy said.

“You’ve had a bad week and you go to the next week and you say, ‘OK I didn’t do this well, I didn’t do this well.’ So you’re sort of trying to focus on that rather than winning the tournament. So for me, this week I wanted to focus on neutralizing my ball flight and trying to dial in my distances. All of a sudden those two little focus points have made me play some good golf again.”

McIlroy capped his birdie spurt by rolling in a 27-footer on the par-4 18th for the lead to himself after putting his tee shot into a fairway bunker. He had a 12-under 198 total.

Two groups behind McIlroy, Koepka (64) had his chances. The world’s top-ranked player finished with three straight pars. Now Koepka and McIlroy, who played the first two rounds together, will play together Sunday for the first time in a final round.

Second-round leader Matthew Fitzpatrick (69) was third, two strokes back. Marc Leishman (63), Alex Noren (66) and Jon Rahm (68) were three shots behind.

“It is exciting,” McIlroy said. “He’s the No. 1 player in the world, four majors in the last three years. He’s the man right now. I got to play with him the last couple days and I enjoyed it. I enjoyed seeing what he can do.”

Koepka says Sunday should be fun duking it out with McIlroy with so much on the line.

“That’s who you want to go up against, especially if he’s going to be playing this good,” Koepka said.

On Saturday, the field featuring 46 of the world’s top 50 attacked a course in almost perfect condition for scoring. Birdies fell early and often.

McIlroy finished a stroke off the 61 he shot in the final round of his Canadian Open victory in June. McIlroy, who also won the Players Championship in March, spent some extra time on the driving range to adjust his wedges. He showed just how dialed in he was by hitting 14 of 18 greens in regulation and needing only 23 putts.

He birdied two of his first three holes, with his longest putt 6 feet on No. 1. He finished his front nine with a 30 after three straight birdies, and a 17-footer on the par-4 seventh was his longest of the trio.

McIlroy’s lone misstep came on No. 12 when he hit his tee shot into the water all along the par 4 and then put his third into a greenside bunker. He chipped out to 6 feet to salvage bogey. He birdied four of his final five, hitting his tee shot 190 yards to 5 feet on the par-3 14th, and left himself a 6-footer for birdie on the par-5 16th.

He rolled in a 16-footer on 17, setting up for his longest birdie putt on the final hole.

“My goal at the start of the day was to try to get to double digits under par going into (Sunday), and I bettered that by two and that’s because of those little bonus putts on 17 and 18,” McIlroy said.

Koepka had been just off when putting from 15 feet out or more dating to the British Open, here he tied for fourth. After four birdies on the front nine Saturday, he rolled in a 30-footer on the par-3 11th to go to 10 under and the lead to himself. He hit his tee shot into a fairway bunker on No. 13 and three-putted for bogey.

He came right back with back-to-back birdies to share the lead briefly with Fitzpatrick. But he missed a prime scoring chance on No. 16 and scrambled to save par after just missing the water off the 18th green.

Fitzpatrick was the first to 12 under with a birdie on No. 11. But he put the ball in the water on No. 12 on his way to double bogey and added two bogeys. He recovered with birdies on two of his final three holes in the final group with Patrick Cantlay.

“No one really wanted to watch me and Patrick because they were more about watching Rory and Brooks,” Fitzpatrick said. “So that’s completely understandable. I’d be the same.”

Divots: McIlroy had his fifth round of 62 or better on tour and third in his last 63 rounds. McIlroy has won three of his last four tournaments when shooting 62 or better in a round. This is the 12th time McIlroy has had at least a share of a 54-hole lead on the PGA Tour, and he’s won seven times previously. … Koepka hit 17 of 18 greens with his only miss at the 18th.

Full scoring can be found here.