Although Adam Hadwin still hasn’t come to grips with being Canada’s top-ranked male golfer, he’s happy to be part of the international team for the upcoming Presidents Cup.

Hadwin earned the 10th and final automatic berth on the team made up of golfers from outside Europe who will take on a team of Americans at the biennial competition. The 2017 event is slated for Sept. 28-Oct. 1 at Liberty National Golf Course in Jersey City, N.J.

The 29-year-old Hadwin captured his first PGA Tour win last March at the Valspar Championship. He locked up his Presidents Cup berth last week by finishing in a tie for 13th at the Dell Technologies Championship.

“It never really left my mind this year,” Hadwin said of the Presidents Cup.

He admitted he was glad his spot didn’t come down to a captain’s pick – Canadian Mike Weir is one of the assistants to International captain Nick Price – and was pleased to make the team on merit.

“I have my place on this team,” Hadwin said. “It was nice to go out and have a great week when I needed it.”

Hadwin played Liberty National for the first time last month and liked what he saw. The par-71 course is 7,328 yards long.

“It’s an incredible piece of property. I think it’s going to be a great match-play golf course,” he said. “There are a few places where bombers can let go, but I’m not sure if it suits any specific type of player. There’s a little bit of everything.”

Hadwin said that since he’s rather reserved on the course, being paired with someone like Australia’s Marc Leishman might make sense during the competition, which features three days of team play before a final day of one-on-one matchups.

“Personality-wise I think we’re very similar,” Hadwin said of the two-time PGA Tour winner. “You think back to 2013 when Graham (DeLaet) was paired with Jason Day, and they’re both very fiery and get very pumped up. There were a lot of fist pumps and screaming and yelling.

“Maybe I will become that player at the Presidents Cup, but if I was to be paired with someone who gets that pumped up, I don’t know if I could match that energy. I’ll have to learn and find out.”

Hadwin’s first Tour victory was followed by a busy stretch away from the course. He married his longtime girlfriend Jessica two weeks after the win and they bought their first home together in Phoenix.

They had to postpone their honeymoon to December after Hadwin’s win, which gave him a spot in the Masters.

“It’s been a whirlwind season,” Hadwin said in a recent interview from Vancouver. “A lot of great golf early, some average golf in the middle, and a couple of good finishes of late. But there’s still lots to play for and to cap off the year.”

Hadwin, from Abbotsford, B.C., has already earned over US$3.2 million this season. He’s 16th on the money list with two events remaining and has risen to 45th in the world rankings. The only other Canadian in the top 100 is DeLaet at No. 95.

Hadwin added he’s still getting used to his position as one of the best golfers in the world.

“I don’t think I’ll ever get used to it, to be honest,” he said. “It’s a tremendous honour to play under the Canadian flag week in and week out. We’ve got some great players having some great seasons.

“We all have goals of getting higher (in the rankings) and I’m certainly not comparing myself to fellow Canadians, and I wouldn’t expect them to compare to me. We’re chasing the same one thing: trying to be the best player we can be.”

DeLaet’s 2013 appearance was the last time a Canadian played in the Presidents Cup.

The Americans retained the trophy in 2015 with a one-point victory in South Korea.

On behalf of the almost 6 million golf enthusiasts from coast-to-coast, Golf Canada is absolutely thrilled to congratulate Adam Hadwin on earning his spot in the 2017 Presidents Cup, Sept. 28 – Oct. 1 at Liberty National Golf Club.

Adam showed tremendous consistency all season long and it is a testament to his commitment and hard work that he achieved this important goal in becoming only the third Canadian ever to compete in the biennial team event. 2017 has been a momentous year for this proud Canadian, from his historic 59 at the CareerBuilder Challenge and first-ever PGA TOUR win at the Valspar Championship to his top-15 finish this past weekend to lock up his spot on the International Team. Adam has given golf fans nation-wide, a season’s worth of incredible performance and we look forward to supporting his continued strong play representing Canada at the Presidents Cup.

As well, our very best wishes go out to five-time Presidents Cup competitor Mike Weir in his role as an assistant captain on this year’s Presidents Cup International Team. Mike’s leadership and experience will no doubt be a positive influence to help drive the collective performance of the International Team.

Both Mike and Adam are tremendous ambassadors for Canadian golf and we wish them continued success representing Canada on one of the game of golf’s greatest stages.
– – –
Laurence Applebaum
CEO
Golf Canada

NORTON, Mass. – Kevin Chappell made his first Presidents Cup team by a fraction of a point, and he needed a lot more help that he realized.

“I made it a lot more exciting than it needed to be,” Chappell said.

Chappell, who won his first PGA Tour event earlier this year in San Antonio, earned enough FedEx Cup points from the Dell Technologies Championship to secure the 10th and final automatic spot on the U.S. team.

Rounded off, Chappell and Charley Hoffman finished with 4,369 points. Stretched out to include decimals, the PGA Tour said Chappell beat Hoffman by 0.073.

This was the final qualifying event for the Presidents Cup, which starts Sept. 28 at Liberty National.

Chappell will be one of at least four Americans making their debut in a Presidents Cup or a Ryder Cup. He spent the last month getting weary of talking about the possibilities, suggesting that he could live with however it turned out.

That changed when he shot a 69 on Sunday and was projected ahead of Hoffman, meaning he controlled his own fate.

“I didn’t know what it meant until I tried to go to sleep last night,” Chappell said Monday on his way to the airport to catch a flight home – in coach, no less – to Seattle.

Hoffman, who showed up at the TPC Boston at No. 10 and with a slim lead, closed with a 68 on Monday and tied for 40th. Chappell appeared to have it locked up until three bogeys over a four-hole stretch on the back nine.

It’s official!

Your 2017 @PresidentsCup U.S. Team and International Team.

Next stop: NYC.? pic.twitter.com/J5IhndBcCu

— PGA TOUR (@PGATOUR) September 4, 2017

He answered with a birdie on the par-3 16th, but then his shot from a fairway bunker on the par-5 18th came to rest on a loose piece of dirt, and his wedge came up well short. Chappell pitched to 10 feet, missed his par putt and closed with a 71.

That’s when he needed some help, and Russell Henley unknowingly provided it.

Chappell was tied for 35th, and Henley also was in that group at 2-under 282. If Henley had made one more birdie, that would have taken points away from Chappell, and Hoffman would have moved past him.

Henley, however, made bogey on the 17th and failed to birdie the 18th to tie for 40th. That was all Chappell needed.

It was a familiar feeling for Chappell, and not a pleasant one. Five years ago in the final tournament of the year, Chappell finished at No. 125 on the money list to keep his card by $1,809, but only after two players made par on the tough par-4 18th at Disney. If either had made bogey, Chappell would have lost his card.

“That was to keep my job,” he said. “I’d much rather being doing this, relying on others to get me on a Presidents Cup team.”

The other U.S. qualifiers were Dustin Johnson, Jordan Spieth, Justin Thomas, Daniel Berger, Rickie Fowler, Brooks Koepka, Kevin Kisner, Matt Kuchar and Patrick Reed.

U.S. captain Steve Stricker will make two wild-card selections Wednesday afternoon, and Hoffman is a favourite to get one of them. With no one below Hoffman in the standings playing exceptionally well, the other pick could go to Phil Mickelson, who has never missed a team event since 1994.

Mickelson was in the mix early at the TPC Boston on Monday, and that could be enough to show Stricker that he’s worth a pick.

“We’ll see. I hope so,” Mickelson said after he closed with a 68 to tie for sixth, his best finish in stroke play since he was runner-up at the British Open last summer. “I think this is a big step for me as far as getting back to where I want – shooting the scores, playing, having energy, being able to practice, all these things.”

Mickelson said Stricker would do what’s best for the American team “and I totally support him either way.”

Emiliano Grillo of Argentina also came up with a good round at the right time. Grillo closed with a 66, enough to move him past Hideto Tanihara of Japan to No. 11 for the International team. Only the top 10 from the world ranking qualify, though Grillo would seem to be safe to be one of captain Nick Price’s picks.

“That’s not up to me,” Grillo said. “Today was up to me and I did my best. It worked out.”

The other International team qualifiers were Hideki Matsuyama, Jason Day, Adam Scott, Louis Oosthuizen, Charl Schwartzel, Marc Leishman, Branden Grace, Jhonattan Vegas, Si Woo Kim and AdamHadwin.

Vegas, Kim and Hadwin will be competing for the first time in the matches.

NORTON, Mass. – The victories keep piling up for Justin Thomas, and all that does is make him want more.

In a Labor Day finish that was harder than the final margin suggested, Thomas kept his patience when Jordan Spieth shot out to a brief lead and Marc Leishman built a two-shot lead at the turn. Keeping his mistakes to a minimum, Thomas outlasted them both by closing with a 5-under 66 for a three-shot victory in the Dell Technologies Championship.

He started the PGA Tour season at No. 34 in the world with all of one PGA Tour victory.

Thomas won for the fifth time Monday, including his first major three weeks ago at the PGA Championship. He is No. 4 in the world. And barring Spieth running the tables the rest of the FedEx Cup playoffs, the 24-year-old Thomas would seem to be a lock to be voted PGA Tour player of the year.

“I have two events left. I have two more opportunities to win,” Thomas said. “And I’d love to make it six or seven wins.”

Thomas made only two bogeys all week, the last one putting him in a three-way tie with seven holes to play. He won on the back nine at TPC Boston with a sand wedge he gouged out of the rough to 6 feet on No. 13, a gap wedge to 4 feet on No. 15 for another birdie, and a 6-foot par save that kept him two shots clear.

Spieth wasted a start that riled up the New England crowd – birdie-eagle-birdie-birdie – by missing the 14th green with a 5-iron for bogey. Needing an eagle to stay in the game on the par-5 18th, Spieth pushed a 4-iron into a tough lie in the bunker, blasted over the green and made bogey for a 67.

Spieth was runner-up for the second straight week in the FedEx Cup playoffs. He lost a three-shot lead to Dustin Johnson on Long Island. There wasn’t much he could have done to stop Thomas, his best friend in golf since they were teenagers.

“Came out firing, like I said we had to do,” Spieth said. “Eight through 14 is the meat of the golf course. You want to get through even. I got through over par and didn’t get any coming in when I hit some good putts.”

Spieth still moved to No. 1 in the FedEx Cup with one more event before the $10 million prize is decided at the Tour Championship.

Leishman shot 30 on the front to build a two-shot lead, only for it to vanish quickly. He had to save bogey on No. 10 after an errant drive. He three-putted from long range for bogey on the 11th. He found a bunker on the 12th for a third straight bogey. And then he closed with two bogeys that only cost him money. Leishman shot 70.

Johnson, the No. 1 player in the world coming off his fourth victory of the season last week, started the final round three shots behind and was one of the few players who was never in contention. He took two to get out of a fairway bunker and made bogey on the par-5 second hole, and he closed with a 73 to finish 10 behind.

Mackenzie Hughes of Dundas, Ont., and Adam Hadwin of Abbotsford, B.C., were the low Canadians at 8 under and tied for 13th. Hughes shot up the leaderboard after a 67 while Hadwin, who started the day two shots back of the lead, struggled to a 73. Nick Taylor (72), also of Abbotsford, finished 2 over and Graham DeLaet (70) of Weyburn, Sask., was 7 over.

Spieth was simply dynamic at the start. He didn’t need to make a putt longer than 12 feet to go 5 under for the opening four holes and briefly take the lead. Leishman, who won at Bay Hill in March, kept stride with six birdies on the front nine to match Spieth’s 30 and move in front.

Thomas did his part to stay in the game.

He could hear the crowd celebrating Spieth’s short birdie on the fourth hole, and then Thomas belted a low slider of a drive that barely cleared the deep bunker, hit into the shaggy collar and hopped onto the fringe. He holed that 30-footer for an eagle, and the race was on.

Phil Mickelson birdied three of his opening four holes. He couldn’t keep pace. Neither could Jon Rahm or Paul Casey.

The final round was so tight that Thomas, Spieth and Leishman were tied for the lead with seven holes to play. But then it all changed when Spieth missed the green at No. 14, did well to hit a flop shot to 15 feet and narrowly missed his par putt.

Thomas steadied himself after his lone bogey on the par-3 11th. Equipped with a one-shot lead because of Spieth’s bogey, Thomas hit a sand wedge to 4 feet on the 15th for a birdie and a two-shot lead. Equally important was his pitch out of deep rough to the right of the 16th to a green that ran away from him. He managed to hit it 6 feet and twice clutched his fist when it dropped for par.

Spieth grazed the edge of the cup with a 10-foot birdie attempt on the 17th, and then lost all hope with his approach into the bunker.

It was the first time Spieth has finished runner-up to Thomas, his best friend in golf since they were teenagers.

Kevin Chappell bogeyed his last hole and still managed to nudge Charley Hoffman by a fraction of a point to earn the 10th and final automatic spot on the U.S. team for the Presidents Cup.

Stewart Cink closed with a 68 to finish 12th, more than enough for him to advance to the third FedEx Cup playoff event outside Chicago for the first time in seven years. Emiliano Grillo and Rafa Cabrera Bello also moved into the top 70 to advance to the BMW Championship in two weeks.

NORTON, Mass. – The best players are on top of their games for the second straight week of the FedEx Cup playoffs.

Now there’s just a lot more of them.

Justin Thomas failed to birdie any of the par 5s on the TPC Boston and still turned in a tournament-best round of 8-under 63 on Sunday, giving him a share of the lead with Marc Leishman and setting up a Labor Day finish filled with some of the biggest names in golf at the Dell Technologies Championship.

One week after Dustin Johnson and Jordan Spieth produced a compelling duel on Long Island, they are part of a chasing pack at the TPC Boston.

So is Paul Casey, who now is 53-under par over his last 15 rounds of these playoff events. Jon Rahm couldn’t keep pace and lost his two-shot lead, though the 22-year-old from Spain remained just three shots behind.

Throw in Phil Mickelson, perhaps even Rickie Fowler, and a forecast that shifts from rain to sunshine, and it could be quite a show.

Thomas and Leishman were at 12-under 201, one shot ahead of Casey, two ahead of Spieth, three ahead of Johnson and Rahm.

“There is a heightened something to these playoff events that bring out certain champions for the most part,” Spieth said after finishing with two straight birdies to nudge closer to the lead. “It’s going to be a throw-down tomorrow.”

Canada’s Adam Hadwin is two shots back after a 3-under 68. The Abbotsford, B.C., native, who started the day in a tie for second, is 10 under for the tournament.

Mackenzie Hughes (71) of Dundas, Ont., is 4 under while Nick Taylor (70), also of Abbotsford, is 1 over. Graham DeLaet (80) of Weyburn, Sask., is 8 over.

Thomas had his third round this season at 63 or better – a list that includes his 59 at the Sony Open and a 63 at the U.S. Open – to turn a five-shot deficit into a share of the lead and a chance to win for the fifth time this year.

He birdied six of the first 10 holes, the longest at about 12 feet. He played down the 13th fairway on the redesigned 12th hole for the third time this week and holed a 50-foot birdie putt, and then added a pair of 25-foot birdie putts.

And he didn’t even birdie any of the par 5s.

“I just felt I had total control of my game,” Thomas said. “But it’s crazy to think I did that and parred all the par 5s. That’s a little bit of a bummer, if I could somehow have a downside to the day. But like I said, I’m extremely pleased and put myself in a great position to win the tournament.”

Casey played in the final group at the TPC Boston last year, but Rory McIlroy ran him down with a 65 to overcome a six-shot deficit. Casey also played the three par 5s without a birdie, missing a 12-footer on the final hole that would have given him a share of the lead.

“Even though I’m not leading, I feel a bit better about my game,” Casey said. “The cons are I’ve got way more talent around the leaderboard than there was last year. It just looks like depth up the top of that leaderboard right now.”

The forecast for Monday was mostly sunshine, and if the course remains softer from rain, this could be a typical shootout. Leishman figured the winning score would be in the 15- or 16-under range.

“That would be my plan, to just try and do what I’ve been doing – give myself as many chances as I can and try and make them,” he said.

Rahm had a two-shot lead and still had the lead until running into trouble on the back nine, making three bogeys until he ended his round with a birdie for a 71. .

The finish was especially critical for Johnson, who played the third round with Thomas and couldn’t buy a putt. Johnson, coming off a playoff victory last week in New York, sarcastically pumped his fist when he made a birdie on No. 14, and then he kept right on going. The only hole he didn’t birdie coming in was at No. 17, where he missed a birdie chance for 10 feet.

“I just wanted to get myself in position to be in range of the leaders,” Johnson said.

He was three behind Spieth going into the final round of The Northern Trust and ended up winning in a sudden-death playoff.

PGA Tour rookie Grayson Murray (67) and Adam Hadwin (68) were at 10-under 203 along with Spieth, who has made only two bogeys over his last 45 holes. Spieth shot a second straight 66 and was surprised that left him two shots behind, all because of Thomas and Leishman.

“I couldn’t have shot a whole lot better,” Spieth said. “I thought four back starting the day, if I could cut that in half, then that would be a tremendous goal. So goal achieved, maybe.”

Mickelson had a 69, making this the first time he has opened with three straight rounds in the 60s since the St. Jude Classic in June. Monday could go a long way in persuading U.S. captain Steve Stricker to pick him for the Presidents Cup.

NORTON, Mass. – Jon Rahm accomplished so much so quickly that he began to wonder what else was left for him to achieve in his first full year on the PGA Tour.

He now has 10 million reasons to play his best golf.

Already very much in the hunt for the FedEx Cup and its $10 million bonus, Rahm took another step Saturday when he made an eagle and five birdies over his last 10 holes for a 5-under 66 and a two-shot lead at the halfway point of the Dell Technologies Championship.

Rahm already has a short history of strong finishes in his first trip to the TPC Boston.

One day after he birdied four of his last five holes, he made a 12-foot eagle putt on the par-5 18th and then shot 31 on the front nine to reach 9-under 133.

No one could catch him in the afternoon, least of all Dustin Johnson.

Johnson, the world’s No. 1 player who had a one-shot lead going into the second round, had a pair of double bogeys after a quick start and needed a birdie on the 18th hole to keep from falling further behind. Johnson shot a 72 and was five shots behind.

It’s already been an amazing year for Rahm. The 22-year-old Spaniard was No. 137 at the start of the year. Now he’s at No. 5. His two main goals were to get to East Lake for the Tour Championship and win a tournament.

Check. Check.

But after a runner-up at Colonial, he has missed the cut twice and finished out of the top 25 in three other PGA Tour starts.

“It’s probably because I got to the point where I had accomplished so much more than I had set myself to in the beginning of the year that I felt like there was nothing else to do,” he said. “It made me complacent of what I had accomplished all year. I didn’t play with the same intensity. I really didn’t have a goal.

“It’s taken me two months to realize what I’ve done, and hopefully I can keep surprising myself.”

Paul Casey, who played in the final group last year until Rory McIlroy ran him down, had a 65 and was two shots off the lead along with Canadian Adam Hadwin (65), Kevin Streelman (65) and Kyle Stanley (68).

Hadwin of Abbotsford, B.C., fired a 65 and had one eagle, five birdies and a bogey. Mackenzie Hughes of Dundas, Ont., is at 4 under following a 68 while Graham DeLaet of Weyburn, Sask., shot a 69 and is 1 under. Nick Taylor (72), also of Abbotsford, is 2 over.

Streelman is at No. 90 in the FedEx Cup, and only the top 70 after the Labor Day finish advance to the third playoff event in two weeks outside Chicago.

Rahm was only part of a cool, calm day that left a large crowd entertained, and at times surprised.

Lucas Glover (No. 16) and Grayson Murray (No. 8) each made a hole-in-one that the PGA Tour estimated were 65 seconds apart. Phil Mickelson dropped only one shot on his way to a 67. He was just three shots off the lead at 6-under 136, his best 36-hole score since the FedEx St. Jude Classic in June. Jordan Spieth also turned around his fortunes. Despite missing a pair of birdies inside 7 feet, Spieth still shot a 65 and was in the group four shots behind.

Spieth attributed his slow start in the opening round Friday to waking up on the wrong side of the bed.

“For me, it was just a matter of just stop being cranky,” Spieth said. “I don’t know what to tell you. I was getting more mad at bad breaks than you should. It was a bad day at the office yesterday and a really good one today. I’m going to need two really good ones again. But to be within four shots after yesterday’s round is a tremendous accomplishment.”

McIlroy, meanwhile, was headed home after missing the cut as the defending champion for only the second time in his career. McIlroy also missed the cut as defending champion in the 2012 U.S. Open.

McIlroy will still advance to the BMW Championship, though he will need a top finish to get to East Lake for the Tour Championship.

That’s no longer a concern for Rahm. He is No. 5 in the FedEx Cup, already assured of going the distance. He won at Torrey Pines in January. He even won his first European Tour title at the Irish Open.

And he now has a very clear goal over the next few weeks.

“I think we all have the same goal in the next few weeks, which is the FedEx Cup,” he said with a smile.

He still has a long way ahead of him at the TPC Boston. Twenty players were within five shots of the lead with two rounds to go, and players were bracing for a Sunday of wet weather. The tee times were moved back and will be played in threesomes because of the forecast.

The cut was at 3-over 145, which spared the likes of Bubba Watson, who is at No. 72 in the standings. Watson missed a 3-foot par putt on the par-5 18th hole and figured he would miss the cut until Patrick Rodgers hit into the junk on the 18th hole, had to take a penalty drop and made bogey.

Adam Scott wasn’t so fortunate. He came up short of the 18th with a sand wedge and missed a 6-foot par putt, giving him a 75. He wound up missing the cut by one shot after flying in from Australia to try to extend his season.

NORTON, Mass. – Now that he’s finally won again, Dustin Johnson is starting to look as dangerous as ever.

One week after Johnson ended a five-month dry spell brought on by a back injury, he easily handled the early cold and a steady win at TPC Boston for a 5-under 66 to take a one-shot lead in the opening round of the Dell Technologies Championship.

And the world’s No. 1 player made it look easy on a tough day for scoring.

He started with a 35-foot birdie putt on No. 10. He made the turn with a 6-iron from 220 yards that sailed high and rode the left-to-right wind into 4 feet for eagle. When another big tee shot settled into a divot on the reachable par-5 second hole, he laid up short of the water and still made birdie.

“Put together a pretty good score,” Johnson said.

Masters champion Sergio Garcia opened with five birdies on the front nine, and then saved his day with a par on his final hole. He hooked his tee shot into the trees, got a bounce into the rough, laid up and then hit wedge to 12 feet and made the putt for a 67.

Jon Rahm also had a 67 that he felt was the best he could have possibly done. It helped that the 22-year-old Spaniard birdied four of his last five holes in the afternoon as the temperature warmed slightly and the wind never went away.

Marc Leishman and Kyle Stanley also were one shot back among the early starters who had to face the surprising chill of morning, a cruel reminder that the end of a New England summer is not far away.

Adam Hadwin of Abbotsford, B.C., and Mackenzie Hughes of Dundas, Ont., both opened with 70s while Graham DeLaet of Weyburn, Sask., and Nick Taylor, also of Abbotsford, shot 72s.

Phil Mickelson, in his last tournament before the picks are made for the Presidents Cup, felt more energy after seeing a doctor and kept his focus on enough good shots for a 69.

“It was nice to have a solid round,” Mickelson said, who had not broken par in the opening round since The Greenbrier in early July. “I played well tee-to-green, and it made for a stress-free day on a very difficult day.”

Johnson played in the group featuring the top three in the FedEx Cup. PGA champion Justin Thomas made 16 pars in his round of 71. British Open champion Jordan Spieth, who lost to Johnson in a sudden-death playoff last week on Long Island, didn’t make a birdie until his 13th hole and shot 72.

“Each part of my game was a little off,” Spieth said.

Nothing looked wrong with Johnson, except for one bad swing and one aggressive putt.

His 25-foot birdie attempt on the 14th hole ran about 5 feet by the cup, and he missed that coming back to slow some early momentum. He bounced back with a wedge into 6 feet for birdie, made eagle on the 18th to reach the turn at 4 under and then had a simple iron off the tee at No. 1. But it sailed right into the woods in a hazard, and he punched out and missed an 8-foot par putt.

Otherwise, there was very little stress except for one young fan who kept referring to him as “Shank.”

“When you win, you’re playing well, so it gives you a lot of confidence,” Johnson said. “For me, that was one thing that was probably lacking a little bit the last few months is just the confidence, because I wasn’t seeing the shots that I wanted to see. I wasn’t consistently hitting them. But after last week, I’ve got a lot of confidence now. I feel like the things I’ve been working on, they are back to working.”

That was as close as a dissertation on golf as the No. 1 player will allow. Johnson doesn’t spend deep analysis over the way he plays. He sees the shot, pulls a club and usually hits it where he’s aiming. That’s what led him to three straight victories going into the Masters until he wrenched his back when he slipped on the stairs and had to withdraw from the first major of the year.

The victory last week was his fourth of the year, tied with Thomas for most on the PGA Tour this season.

As easy as it looked for Johnson, it was anything but that for Kelly Kraft. At No. 64 in the FedEx Cup, his season might be over after he took a 12 on the par-5 second hole. Kraft hit his third into the water and his fifth shot over the green. He tried to hit a shot from a native area, took another penalty drop to go back to the fairway and hit that one into the water. He eventually two-putted for a 12 and withdrew after 14 holes with a sore foot.

Ryan Moore, who missed time with a shoulder injury this summer, had four double bogeys in his round of 82. He also withdrew.

Four Canadians will be in the field this week at the first Web.com Tour Finals event the Nationwide Children’s Hospital Charity Championship at Ohio State University Golf Club’s Scarlet Course in Arlington, Ohio.

Leading the way with his PGA TOUR card already locked up is Thornhill, Ont., native Ben Silverman.

Silverman is playing the best golf of his professional career with four top-10s in his last four starts – including his first career Web.com Tour win at the Price Cutter Charity Championship presented by Dr. Pepper.

He finished the regular season No. 10 on the Web.com Tour Money List securing one of 25 cards available in the regular season and will be jockeying for priority on the PGA TOUR card list during the Finals.

Joining Silverman in Ohio are fellow Canadians Corey Conners (Listowel, Ont.), Roger Sloan (Merritt, B.C.), and Adam Svensson (Surrey, B.C.).

The three will battle for the 25 additional PGA TOUR cards available to the top-25 finishers on the separate Web.com Tour Finals money list.

Conners – a member of the Team Canada Young Pro Squad – finished the regular season ranked No. 49 on the Web.com Tour money list.

He had three top-10s this season including a career best T5 finish at The Bahamas Great Exuma Classic at Sandals Emerald Bay.

The 25-year-old is looking to secure PGA TOUR status for the first time in his career since turning pro in 2015. He will do so in familiar territory this week having played the Scarlet Course several times during his college career with Kent State University.

Sloan, 30, slotted in just behind Conners on the money list during the regular season finishing at No. 53 and like Conners he had three top-10 finishes.

He had a PGA TOUR card in 2015 after finishing in the top-25 on the Web.com Tour regular season money list.

Svensson was No. 66 on the regular season money list. He had two top-10 finishes this season, his best result coming at the Corales Puntacana Resort and Club Championship where he was tied for sixth.

Both Svensson and Sloan reached the Finals last year but failed to secure their PGA TOUR card finishing at No. 75 and 76 respectively on the Finals money list.

The ordering of all 50 players after the Web.com Tour Finals will be done on an alternating basis, with the top position going to the No. 1 player from the combined Regular Season and Finals money list and the second position going to the leading money winner from the four Web.com Tour Finals.

The sequence then alternates between the combined Regular Season and Finals money list.

Click here for more information on the Web.com Tour Finals.

Dustin Johnson faced long odds all day against Jordan Spieth until the longest drive led to an unlike playoff victory Sunday in The Northern Trust.

Johnson rallied from a five-shot deficit on the front nine. And on the final hole in regulation, after one of the most powerful players in golf chose to lay up from the rough, his 18-foot par putt swirled around the cup and fell in the back side for a 4-under 66 to force a sudden-death playoff.

So clutch. It’s been almost 2 hours and we still can’t believe it.@DJohnsonPGA on the 72nd hole to force a playoff … pic.twitter.com/K9DL8ZPT0N

— PGA TOUR (@PGATOUR) August 27, 2017

Returning to the 18th hole, Johnson felt the wind switch and took on the lake with a 341-yard tee shot – the longest of the week on that hole – that left him a lob wedge that he hit to 4 feet.

Spieth, who already made his share of big putts along the back nine at Glen Oaks, hit 7-iron to the back collar and missed his 25-foot birdie putt. Johnson rolled in his short birdie putt for his fourth victory of the year.

Spieth, who closed with a 69, lost for the first time in six tries when leading by at least two shots. There wasn’t much he could do except take back that tee shot into the water on the par-3 sixth hole after building a five-shot lead. Johnson played bogey-free in the final round, and played his final 29 holes at par or better.

“I didn’t lose the tournament,” Spieth said. “He won it.”

The opening FedEx Cup playoff event featured two of the biggest names in golf who put on an amazing show on Long Island.

“I thought that was a fun show,” Spieth said. “I was hoping it wasn’t going to be that much fun.”

Johnson made up a five-shot deficit in five holes, and they battled along the back nine with big shots and big moments. They were tied on the par-3 17th when both hit into a bunker, and Johnson blasted out to 4 feet with an easier shot and angle to the hole. Spieth had 18 feet for par and knocked it in, like he always seems to do.

On the closing hole, Johnson showed the kind of golf I.Q. that belies his simple outlook on life. After he sliced his drive up the hill and into a nasty lie in the rough, he chose to lay up instead of trying to hammer a shot to an elevated green.

Winning approach.
Winning reactions.

Paulina Gretzky and the fans approve. ? pic.twitter.com/gN6SCPp1Qw

— PGA TOUR (@PGATOUR) August 27, 2017

But he made it pay off with a par, that got him into the playoff after Spieth lagged a 75-foot putt perfectly to get his par.

They finished at 13-under 267.

Mackenzie Hughes of Dundas, Ont., finished in a tie for 62nd place.

Johnson won for the first time since he wrenched his back during a spill down the stairs that knocked him out of the Masters and derailed his dominance in golf. He had won three straight tournaments against strong fields until that injury.

“I feel like the game is finally back in form like it was before the Masters,” Johnson said.

Of his 16 victories, this was the first time Johnson faced a must-make putt on the final hole, and he delivered a par putt that even Spieth thought was going to miss on the high side of the hole.

The Northern Trust never looked as though it would contain so much drama.

Spieth began with a three-shot lead. He two-putted from long range for birdie on the par-5 third hole when Johnson, from closer range but putting from off the green, took three to get down for a par. And then the fifth hole felt like a dagger – Spieth poured in a 30-foot birdie putt, and Johnson missed his birdie from 8 feet.

That gave Spieth a five-shot lead – no one else was closer than seven – and it seemed even larger because Johnson wasn’t making any putts.

A couple gutsy pars on No. 17.

We head to the 18th with Spieth, DJ still tied. #QuickHits pic.twitter.com/MbqYLcxpPC

— PGA TOUR (@PGATOUR) August 27, 2017

Five holes later, they were tied.

Spieth’s tee shot on the next hole banged off the rock wall and into the water on the par-3 sixth, and he made double bogey. On the ninth hole, Spieth took three putts from just off the left side the green, and Johnson made a 7-foot birdie putt for another two-shot swing.

Johnson began the back nine with an 8-foot birdie, and they were tied.

The closest Johnson came to taking the lead was a 15-foot eagle attempt that narrowly missed. Spieth regained the lead with an 8-foot birdie on the 14th, and Johnson tied him again from 18 feet on the next hole.

It was great theatre, even before a crowd not nearly as large as other courses used in the rotation, and it lasted all the way until the end.

No one else really had a chance.

Jon Rahm ran off three straight birdies early on the back and briefly was one shot behind, though he had stronger holes ahead of him and fell back. Jhonattan Vegas was within two shots after playing the scoring holes.

Otherwise, it was a matter of who finished among the top 100 in the FedEx Cup to move on to the TPC Boston next week for the next playoff event.

Bubba Watson shot a 70 and tied for 10th, to become one of eight players to qualify for the second playoff event all 11 years of the FedEx Cup. David Lingmerth, who started at No. 103, overcame a 40 on the front nine for a 73 to tie for 29th and move into the top 100.

These players climbed into the #FedExCup top 100 and advance to next week:@HV3-Golf 123➡️91@bubbawatson 113➡️72@dlingmerth 103➡️87 pic.twitter.com/vD5T4VzXZp

— PGA TOUR (@PGATOUR) August 28, 2017

Harold Varner III, not even among the top 125 going into the final regular-season event last week, made it to New York and then tied for 20th to crack the top 100.

The three players who moved into the top 100 were the fewest since two advanced in 2007 when the FedEx Cup began.

Click here to view the full leaderboard.

Jordan Spieth needed only three holes to leave a strong cast of challengers wondering what it’s going to take to catch him in The Northern Trust.

Spieth ran off three straight birdies on the back nine at Glen Oaks Club and finished with a pair of pars for a 6-under 64, matching the low score of the tournament and building a three-shot lead over Dustin Johnson.

It was the second straight day that Spieth filled his card with birdies on the easier back nine at Glen Oaks – a 30 on Friday, a 31 on Saturday.

Not a bad day at the office for @JordanSpieth. pic.twitter.com/amNsrIxH8M

— PGA TOUR (@PGATOUR) August 26, 2017

Johnson, his regular partner at the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am, failed to take advantage until he stuffed his approach into 4 feet on the 18th hole for a birdie and a 67 to narrow the gap and get into the final group with Spieth.

Spieth was at 12-under 198, and his reputation – even for a 24-year-old in his fifth year on the PGA Tour – is as daunting as the size of his lead. Spieth has a 9-5 record with at least a share of the 54-hole lead, including nine of his last 10.

“Ten except for one hole,” he said with a smile, referring to the quadruple bogey he made on the 12th hole at Augusta National that cost him the 2016 Masters.

Paul Casey, who seems to play his best golf this time of the year, and defending champion Patrick Reed each hat a 66 and were next in line at five shots back, along with Jon Rahm (67) and Matt Kuchar (68).

Mackenzie Hughes of Dundas, Ont., the lone Canadian left in the field, shot a 73 for a share of 52nd place.

Missing from the mix are Jhonattan Vegas and Rickie Fowler, who started the third round as part of the four-way tie for the lead that included Spieth and Johnson. Vegas shot a 72 to fall eight shots behind. Fowler, playing with Spieth, opened with five bogeys in six shots and fell 10 shots behind after a 74.

“A five-shot lead requires two things – a really good round from whoever is coming from behind and the leader to stumble a little bit,” Rahm said. “And Spieth is not known for being one to stumble.”

That’s only partially correct.

Spieth lost a three-shot lead in four holes at the British Open last month, and he lost the lead with five holes to go until he answered with one of the strongest finishes in major championship history to win at Royal Birkdale. A month before that, he struggled badly with his putter in the final round at the Travelers Championship until he won in a playoff by holing a bunker shot.

Length of Jordan Spieth's seven birdie makes today:

? 3'10"
? 21'4"
? 12'2"
? 23'0"
? 9'7"
? 10'7"
? 22'4" pic.twitter.com/MbT48z2PmF

— PGA TOUR (@PGATOUR) August 26, 2017

What he would love on Sunday is the kind of boring round he put together at Pebble Beach – two birdies, no bogeys, no excitement, a four-shot victory.

“I don’t expect it, though,” Spieth said.

He didn’t have reason to believe he would have a three-shot lead when the third round began with so many players in the mix. Johnson took the early lead with a birdie from the bunker on the par-5 third hole, and then Spieth began the first of two big runs. He holed birdie putts of 20 feet, 12 feet and 25 feet over a four-hole stretch, and looked as though the lead would get even bigger when he settled over an 8-foot birdie chance on the ninth hole.

And then he three-putted with an aggressive stroke on a downhill putt. Spieth bounced back with a birdie on the 10th, and then after failing to birdie the lone par 5 on the back nine, he went back to work with the putter with a 10-foot birdie on No. 14, a 20-foot birdie on the par-3 15th and a shot into 4 feet on the 16th for three in a row.

Johnson stopped hitting it close and twice had to work hard not to lose ground.

.@DJohnsonPGA's interesting Saturday @TheNTGolf:

• Start the day tied for the lead
• Shoot 67
• Finish three off the pace pic.twitter.com/RIX9N6YI06

— PGA TOUR (@PGATOUR) August 26, 2017

At three shots behind, he still looms as a big threat as the No. 1 player in the world whose game is rounding back into the form that made him appear to be so unbeatable until his back injury before the Masters.

“Let’s be honest here – I’d rather have a three-shot lead,” Johnson said. “But it’s not that bad coming from three shots back, either, because that can change in one hole, really. But obviously, Jordan is playing really well, so he’s going to be tough to beat tomorrow. … If I can drive it well again tomorrow and maybe hole a couple putts, maybe some of his putting will rub off on me and I’ll start holing them.”

Spieth will be going for his fourth victory of the year, one that would make him the front-runner for PGA Tour player of the year.

Click here to view the full leaderboard.