Johnson, Chappell tied for Tour Championship lead

We got the ideal ending to the season previous year when the best player of 2015 (Jordan Spieth) touched off the season with a Tour Championship (and FedEx Cup) win.

McIlroy’s putter has been a stone around his neck this year but there have been genuine signs during the FedEx Cup play-offs that he has worked out his problems on the greens. So it would be two great championships to add to the résumé.

“I think it’s something I’m going to have to continue to work on beyond this week, but it’s definitely something I needed to address”, Rory said.

The second-ranked American had led by four shots after his third straight birdie at the sixth hole at East Lake in Atlanta, Georgia. He’s much closer this time after posting just the fourth bogey-free round of the week thus far. That’s what I need to focus on and if I can do that, someone has to tie with DJ for me to win. “I’m going to go out there and give it all I’ve got, and Dustin is going to play great golf”.

“I just need to try and win this golf tournament, and whatever happens after that happens”, McIlroy said. McIlroy, five shots behind at the start of the third round, would have to win the Tour Championship and have Johnson finish in a two-way tie for second.

Chappell has arguably been the week’s most consistent player, posting just a single bogey through 54 holes and pulling into a share of the lead thanks to a birdie at the 17 hole.

The final round is shaping up to be interesting, especially based on how Johnson struggled on the back nine.

Johnson had a wild day on Saturday that included three bogeys, a double bogey and six birdies. He put his next shot in the bunker, chipped to 6 feet and missed. He nabbed the first birdie of the day at the par-four 16th, hitting his approach from 147 yards to 12 feet and draining the putt.

“I like my position”.

“I’m going to need something similar if not better tomorrow”. He was cruising to a tournament victory that would assure him the FedEx Cup and its $10 million bonus while everyone else played for diamond-encrusted scraps.

And it’s why the final round of the PGA Tour season suddenly has more scenarios than Johnson cares to consider. Top-ranked competitor Jason Day, who Johnson may soon pass as the world’s No. 1 golfer, credits Johnson’s rise this year with his use of the high-tech Trackman device to monitor and improve the accuracy of his short game.

In all, there are six players within five shots of the Johnson/Chappell lead. He has at least a decade left in the tank, but he needs his first PGA Tour win in order to fulfill his potential.

“I felt like every time he made a mistake, he bounced right back with a birdie”, said McIlroy paying tribute to Johnson’s form.

Win, lose or tank, 2016 has been a career year for Kevin Chappell. “Other than that, I thought the round was pretty solid”. So I was trying to sync everything up a little better.

But let’s return to No. 17, shall we? He also finished third at the WGC-Bridgestone Invitational in July. I’ve won quite a few times out here.

“I’ve got a lot of confidence and I know I can get it done out here”, Johnson said. “But I really fought hard, and the chip-in at 12 kind of got me fired up a little bit”.

Four golfers playing for so much money and history in the last 18 holes of the year.