| Advertisement |
ATLANTA -- Dustin Johnson has maintained all week that he's not thinking about the $10 million bonus that he would earn by winning the Tour Championship and the FedEx Cup. But the long-driving Johnson admitted Friday that he is interested in become the No. 1-ranked player in the world. Johnson is halfway to his goal this week He shot a 3-under 67 on Friday at the East Lake Golf Club and stands at 7-under 133 through two rounds, one shot better than Kevin Chappell.
Advertisement
"I mean, yeah, I would love to become world No. 1," Johnson said. "Obviously, I need to finish off the weekend, and we'll see what happens."
Johnson has been the PGA Tour's dominant player since early summer when he won the U.S. Open and WGC Bridgestone on consecutive weeks. He added to his collection by winning the BMW Championship, the third FedEx Cup playoff event, and entered the Tour Championship as the leader in FedEx Cup points.
If he wins this week, Johnson will earn $1.53 million for the victory and an additional $10 million bonus for winning the FedEx Cup.
Johnson had five birdies and two bogeys Friday, one of them on the beefed-up 17th.
"Obviously I'm playing good right now," Johnson said. "I've got a lot of confidence in my game. I put a lot of work to get to where I am. I think the biggest difference is my wedge play has really improved and I think that's kind of made me take that next step to get to the next level."
Ryan Moore said, "When that guy gets going, he's tough to beat. He hits it 70 yards farther than me and basically as straight as I do."
Chappell is trying to get to the next level, too. The veteran has never won a PGA Tour event and faces almost impossible odds to win the FedEx Cup. But he put together his second straight solid round with a 68. He had three straight birdies on the front nine and only had one bogey.
Kevin Kisner and Hideki Matsuyama, who shared the first-round lead with Johnson and Chappell, are tied for third at 3-under. Kisner birdied the final hole to shoot 70. Matsuyama also birdied the final hole to salvage a 71.
Moore, Paul Casey and Rory McIlroy are tied for fifth at 2-under 138.
Russell Knox, Justin Thomas and Si Woo Kim are tied for eighth at 1-under. Knox shot 66, the low round of the day, and had four birdies on the back nine.
Thomas was assessed a one-shot penalty when the two-foot putt he faced on the par-3 11th hole moved after he grounded his club. Thomas told officials he did not cause the ball to move, but a post-round meeting with officials did not persuade them to wipe off the penalty. Officials said the penalty was warranted because the movement occurred simultaneously with the grounding of the club.
"I put the putter behind the ball," Thomas said. "One thing, it's not like it was right behind it. I put it about that far behind the ball because I was kind of getting closer. I looked at the green book, and it's a four percent grade and it was straight down grain. What are the greens, 11, 12? I just have a hard time believing that's a flat surface, you know what I'm saying?
Defending champion Jordan Spieth shot a 2-over 72 and is tied for 11th, along with Jason Dufner and Adam Scott, at even-par 140. Dufner got back in the mix with a 67.
Equally big news was the decision by world No. 1 Jason Day to withdraw on the eighth hole of his second round. Day shot 67 the first day and was even par through seven holes when he began to experience back pain. Day decided to drop out instead of risking further injury. He is expected to take an extended break before he returns to competition.
Bubba Watson, who is trying to earn the final spot on the Ryder Cup, did himself no favors. Ranked No. 7 in the world, Watson shot a 73 and is tied for 25th at 5-over. The choice for the final Ryder Cup spot is expected to be between Watson, Chappell and Thomas.
