Jason Day withdraws from another playoff event

Johnson made five birdies and two bogeys on Friday to move into the lead alone.

Joint leader Matsuyama made a nice start on the more hard front nine and picked up two more shots on the inward half.

McIlroy made a poor start with four bogeys and one birdie in the first eight holes, but the four-time major victor responded with birdies on the 10th, 12th and 17th to remain in contention in Atlanta.

If Johnson wins on Sunday (Monday NZT), he will also claim the FedExCup and the $10 million prize awarded to the victor of the season-long points race.

Rory McIlroy admitted swing troubles hindered his second round at the Tour Championship, but is targeting a weekend push to capture his third win of the season.

World number seven Watson is the highest-ranked player not already on the US team, and he arrived at East Lake knowing he needed a strong showing after being overlooked last week when Love made his first three wild card picks. “I didn’t drive it well, I got unlucky a few times just missing the fairways in some bad lies and hit some sloppy iron shots”.

Chappell made a David versus Goliath comparison Friday, and it felt like that at times with how far Johnson hits it and the support he had from a Southern crowd.

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.

COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) – Martin Flores birdied five of the last seven holes for a 5-under 66 and a three-stroke lead in the Web.com Tour Finals’ Nationwide Children’s Hospital Championship.

World number one Jason Day was forced to withdraw through injury.

“I was a little bit lucky on that front nine but got into a good rhythm”, said the world number 18.

Johnson is certainly one of them. “I think first and foremost I need to go out tomorrow [Sunday] and just try to win the golf tournament”.

“It seems like I like going against the hot player at the time”, Chappell cracked. “Other than that, I thought the round was pretty solid”, Johnson said. 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. “I feel if I play really solid golf here – and it doesn’t have to be flawless golf – I can shoot eight under on this golf course”.

Day withdrew while playing the eighth hole at East Lake.

With gusting winds making play hard, particularly for the afternoon starters, Moriarty’s four under par 68 gave him a one shot lead over Damien McGrane, Eamonn Brady (Clontarf GC) and Simon Thornton.

Chappell has never won a PGA Tour event.

“This is a course I feel very comfortable on”, Spieth said.

World No.2 Dustin Johnson continued his impressive form and now appears a certainty to beat Day to Player of the Year honours.