ATLANTA -- What looked like a one-man race at the Tour Championship has turned into a horse race.
Dustin Johnson, who had a four-shot lead at one point on Saturday, came back to the field and will start the final round tied with Kevin Chappell in the final event of the FedEx Cup playoffs at the East Lake Golf Course.
If Johnson is victorious, he will also claim the $10 million bonus for winning the FedEx Cup. Chappell has almost no mathematical chance to earn the FedEx Cup, but the $1.53 million that goes to the winner would be the biggest payday of his career.
Tied for third at 6-under-par 204 are Rory McIlroy and Ryan Moore, who each shot 66. Hideki Matsuyama is alone at 5-under after shooting 68, followed by Jason Dufner at 4-under after a 66.
Charl Schwartzel, who made back-to-back eagles to shoot 66, and Paul Casey, who posted a 69, are tied for seventh at 3-under.
Johnson was 10-under after a birdie at the 12th hole and seemed ready to run away from the field. But he made back-to-back bogeys at Nos. 13 and 14 and double-bogeyed the 17th hole after failing to find the fairway on each. He recovered to birdie the 18th and regain part of the lead.
"I thought I played pretty well, just a couple of loose drives on the back side," Johnson said. "Other than that, I thought the round was pretty solid. I missed a few good opportunities for birdie on 8, 9 and 2, but otherwise, I felt like I hit good putts. They just didn't go in."
Chappell's patient approach paid off Saturday. He made 16 pars and two birdies, the first a dramatic chip from the thick greenside rough at the 12th hole that was his first birdie on the back nine all week.
"Probably the most difficult round I played this week in terms of ball control and positions that I was in," Chappell said. "But I fought real hard and the chip-in at 12 kind of got me fired up a little bit. I think that was the glue that kind of kept the round together."
It was the fifth time Johnson and Chappell had been paired together and the first time Chappell had posted a lower score. Johnson has won three times this season, including the U.S. Open, while Chappell is still trying to win for the first time.
"Kevin's a buddy of mine. We played a lot of college golf together," Johnson said. "I enjoy playing with Kevin. It's going to be a fun day. Hopefully I can go out and play some really good golf again."
McIlroy, a four-time major champion, and Moore, a five-winner on the PGA Tour, are both eager to see if they can close the gap. McIlroy tied for second at the 2014 Tour Championship and Moore tied for third in 2012
"Of all the days to just kind of focus and take it one shot at a time and play a round of golf, tomorrow's the day," Moore said. "It's going to be hard to do with everything that's on the line right now, but I like where my game's at. I like the way I've been turning the right direction this week."
McIlroy said, "I feel like I'm getting more and more comfortable with my putting each day. I feel like I can go out there tomorrow and shoot something lower than I have today and hopefully that will give me a chance."
The third round was played with temperatures in the low 90s and was ideal for low scores. Nineteen players in the 29-man field shot par or better. There were seven players who shot 66, including Emiliano Grillo, William McGirt and Bubba Watson.
In addition to the FedEx Cup, several players are trying to make their case to be the final man who will be selected to compete in next week's Ryder Cup. The main contenders are thought to be Watson and Justin Thomas, who is in ninth place. But a victory by either Chappell or Moore could make the decision more difficult for U.S. captain Davis Love III.
"I came here this week to win a golf tournament and I'm 100 percent focused on that," Moore said. "That's honestly completely out of my control. I've kind of just let it go and I'm not even thinking about it."
Watson said, "I'm so far back (14th place) - captain said he was picking based on who's going to fit the team, who's going to fit players, who's going to complement other players. Hopefully, at the end of the day, it's me, but you never know."
