Page 19 - aruba-today-20180824

A19
SPORTS Friday 24 august 2018
4-way tie for lead at Northern Trust as Woods stalls

By DOUG FERGUSON him play, and they heard
PARAMUS, N.J. (AP) — Tiger plenty of cheers from the
Woods failed to carry any group behind him.
momentum he had from Dustin Johnson rimmed out
his last tournament into the a 6-iron on the par-3 sixth
start of the FedEx Cup play- for one of his seven birdies
offs. to offset a triple bogey for
Neither did Sean O'Hair. a 67. U.S. Open and PGA
That was only good news champion Brooks Koepka
for one of them Thursday in ran off four birdies and an
The Northern Trust. eagle for his 67. FedEx Cup
O'Hair missed the cut last champion Justin Thomas
week and saw his FedEx had four birdies in his round
Cup standing slip to No. of 69.
121, meaning he has to play Johnson could tell his 6-iron
well this week or his season was close to perfect from
is over. His immediate goal the flight of the shot, where
is to advance to the third it landed and the reac-
stage of events because tion of the fans behind the Dustin Johnson, right, talks with Justin Thomas as they approach the 13th green during the first
the BMW Championship is par-3 sixth green as the ball round of the Northern Trust golf tournament, Thursday, Aug. 23, 2018, in Paramus, N.J.
at Aronimink outside Phila- rolled around left edge of Associated Press
delphia, where O'Hair is a the cup.
member. Or were they cheering be- cut, if anything I'm going at the Valero Texas Open. wood. It was a good start,
He drilled a 3-wood from cause Woods teed off on to over- cut it to the right. "After that, I kind of just nothing more. And while he
284 yards to 6 feet for eagle the hole ahead of them? And it came off low and checked out mentally be- would love to play on his
on No. 3. He hammered an- "I was kind of debating hooked. So I just laughed. cause I knew I was safe home course in two weeks
other 3-wood on the par-5 whether they were yelling Wasn't funny when I made and kind of lost my drive a at Aronimink, he's not ob-
17th to 10 feet, settling for for me or him," Johnson triple, though." little bit," he said. sessed with it. O'Hair said he
a two-putt birdie. That car- said with a smile. O'Hair doesn't sound like He took off the month of came into the playoffs with
ried O'Hair to a 5-under 66, O'Hair isn't alone in the ur- he's playing under a lot of June, which he had never one eye toward next year.
giving him a share of the gency to play well. The top pressure. He had knee sur- done, and hasn't played "It's not like, 'Hey, I need
lead with Kevin Tway, Ja- 100 advance to the sec- gery last year that kept him very well since then. But to do this to play Aronim-
mie Lovemark and Vaughn ond stage next week at the from most of the fall events, he's back to work, first on ink,'" O'Hair said. "I'll play
Taylor. TPC Boston, with the top 70 putting him behind. He de- his long game and late on Aronimink after the tour-
"I'm obviously very disap- going to the BMW Champi- cided to keep playing until his putter, and he found nament. I think I've got a
pointed that I'm not in a onship and the top 30 mak- he had his card locked up, the right formula on a rain- member-guest the follow-
better position, but I'm kind ing it to East Lake in Atlanta and then he was runner-up softened course at Ridge- ing week."q
of in charge of my destiny," for the Tour Championship.
O'Hair said. "If I play good Tway and Lovemark are
golf I'm just going to work in the mid-80s in the FedEx
into the next week." Cup, while Taylor is at No.
Woods, playing for the first 112.
time since his runner-up fin- Tway began his week play-
ish at the PGA Champion- ing in a charity event with
ship, had a pair of birdies, good friend Morgan Hoff-
a pair of bogeys, a lot of mann, who is coping with
pars and a 71. He was five muscular dystrophy. Hoff-
shots behind and in a tie for mann is a reminder of how
60th. After a rough start off far players can go with the
the tee, Woods wound up FedEx Cup points quadru-
hitting nine of 14 fairways. pled in the playoffs.
He just never got it close "Morgan Hoffmann came
enough for good looks at in at 124 and went all the
birdie. way to The Tour Champion-
"Just didn't have the situ- ship," Tway said, referring
ations where I had the full to 2014. "That's kind of the
club and I could go ahead plan, try to play as good as
and take a rip at it and you can and go as far as
start being aggressive and you can."
going after these flags," Johnson had no idea where
Woods said. "I kept having his tee shots were going
to play a little defensive until late in his round, yet
because I was taking more he still managed to pile up
club, trying to shape it and birdies. One wild drive cost
take spin off. One of those him at the 17th, where the
days." ball went so far left it wasn't
Woods is back in the FedEx even worth searching for in
Cup playoffs for the first the woods. Johnson made
time in five years, and it was triple bogey.
his first time at Ridgewood "I hit that ball 70 yards left
Country Club since 2010. of where I was looking," he
Thousands came to watch said. "If I'm trying to hit a high