Dustin Johnson surges at Sentry Tournament of Champions

KAPALUA, Hawaii – Dustin Johnson gave up his last 54-hole lead but he has no intentions of repeating the story this time around. After producing a sublime 7-under 66 on Saturday – his 20th round in the 60s at the Plantation Course – Johnson surged to 16-under for the week, two clear of Brian Harman (69) and four ahead of Jon Rahm (66). It appears the Sentry Tournament of Champions is his to lose given he’s clearly the most experienced player in the field – making his eighth trip to Kapalua. No one else here has more than four. But wait – we’ve seen this story not so long ago. The world No.1 Johnson took a seemingly insurmountable six-shot lead through three rounds at the World Golf Championships – HSBC Champions in late October only to shoot a 5-over 77 on Sunday to lose by two strokes to Justin Rose. Rickie Fowler, who will be one of the chasers on Sunday from five strokes back, playfully suggested Johnson wouldn’t remember his collapse in China. “I don’t expect him to necessarily do that again. All the times that he’s been in a position to win and having a lead, he’s taken care of that pretty well,â€� Fowler said. “D.J.’s a guy that forgets pretty quickly. I don’t think he remembers China. So that’s one of the reasons why he is the best player in the world right now. He quickly forgets, moves on. “There’s not necessarily a weak part of his game, so I’m going to have to go play well if I want to go chase him down.â€� When Johnson was asked if he had indeed forgotten – he claimed he had – until reminded of it by media as he finished his round. “It was a long time ago. It’s a completely different golf course. It was, what, two months ago or something,â€� Johnson said. “I’m going to try not to think about it tomorrow, hopefully I won’t. But I just need to go out and play my game and just see what happens.â€� For the record this is Johnson’s 14th lead/co-lead through 54 holes on the PGA TOUR. He has converted seven to victory, most recently at the Genesis Open in 2017. CALL OF THE DAY OBSERVATIONS BULLDOG HARMAN READY FOR FIGHT: Brian Harman has beaten Dustin Johnson before on Sunday – but he was the man in front. This time he will have to hunt the world No.1 down from behind. At the 2017 Wells Fargo Championship Harman overtook Patrick Reed, Alex Noren and Jon Rahm on Sunday for his second PGA TOUR win but it was a fast finishing Johnson, who had won his previous three starts, who was catching his attention. Johnson had started two back of Harman but had posted a nine-under total in the clubhouse. Harman knew he would prefer not to be in a playoff with the big bomber and had birdied the 17th to tie. He then nailed a 30-footer on the 18th for victory. “I’m just going to keep doing the same thing I’ve been doing and I’m going to try to put as much pressure on the golf course as I can,â€� Harman said Saturday. “I’m going to try to do the best I can on every shot. I can’t control what Dustin does, he’s a fabulous player, he’s going to be really hard to beat tomorrow, but trying to do something I’m not capable of is not the way to do it.â€� RAHM WANTS REVERSE RESULT: Jon Rahm remembers his battles with Dustin Johnson well. And they’re not all fond memories. Rahm had chances to win the World Golf Championships – Mexico Championship and THE NORTHERN TRUST last season only to be bested by Johnson. There was also their battle in the final round of the World Golf Championships – Dell Match Play that went the way of the American. He has another chance to best him in Maui, albeit a tough ask starting four shots back. “I do enjoy (going head-to-head with Johnson), but the outcome hasn’t been great for me,â€� Rahm said. “Hopefully I can play good down the stretch like I’ve been doing. Just start a little better on the front nine. If I can make a birdie before I get to the 5th I’ll be happy.â€� BONES RETURNS: FedExCup champion and defending Sentry Tournament of Champions winner Justin Thomas shot another disappointing 2-over 75 on Saturday to be 2-over and in 30th place. He tackled the Plantation Course without regular caddie Jimmy Johnson who succumbed to plantar fasciitis and has returned home for treatment. Thomas’ father Mike took over bag duties at Kapalua and will do the same on Sunday. Word is however that Jim “Bonesâ€� Mackay will make a cameo for Thomas when he defends the Sony Open next week. Mackay hasn’t caddied on the PGA TOUR since parting ways with Phil Mickelson. NOTABLES Jordan Spieth – A 3-under 70 on Saturday leaves Spieth sitting in a tie for ninth at 8-under, a distant eight shots back of the lead. Marc Leishman – The first and second round leader had a round to forget, posting a 3-over 76 to drop to 7-under and a tie for 12th. Hideki Matsuyama – The world No.5 and runner up last year could only muster a 72 on Saturday to sit 7-under and tied 12th. Patton Kizzire – Rounds of 72-72-69 have the current FedExCup leader at 6-under and tied 17th.  QUOTABLES Seventh place doesn’t really do a whole lot for me at the end of the day, so the idea is to fire at flags and just putt aggressively. It’s one thing to say it, it’s another to be out there and then all of a sudden you just feel so uncomfortable trying to hit that hard and I struggled with that this week. So, I’ve just got to be really aggressive on the greensI don’t think there’s two guys that speak to the ball more than we do. It’s true. It’s fun because we both react similarly when we hit a shot. It’s great.It was tough. The putter was cold and if I putted half decent I’d be right up there.Coming off of getting that win a few weeks back (at the Hero World Challenge) I think we were seven shots back and we’re not that far back going into tomorrow. But it won’t be easy. No.1, someone’s going to have to earn it tomorrow, whether it’s DJ or anyone coming from behind. SUPERLATIVES Low round: 7-under 66 – Dustin Johnson and Jon Rahm positioned themselves nicely. Longest drive: 430 yards – Hudson Swafford on the par-4 7th. He then overshot the green and got up and down for par. Longest putt: 68 feet, 8 inches – Wesley Bryan drained a massive effort for par on the par-4 4th. Easiest hole: Par-5 5th – The reachable hole played at 4.235 with three eagles, 23 birdies, six pars, one bogey and one double bogey. Hardest holes: Par-4 10th – Uphill and into the wind it played at 4.412 with not a single birdie. There were eight bogeys and three double bogeys.

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