NORTON — The ominous sheet of gray sky staring back at Dustin Johnson when he teed off Saturday on the ninth hole of TPC Boston was the only thing that could stop the run he has been on all week.
And even that was temporary.
Johnson was on the ninth fairway, birdies on four of the first eight holes, when a brief storm suspended play for an hour at the Northern Trust. His focus never broke once play resumed. The skies were clear and the sun was fading by the time he walked to the 18th green, where a 40-foot eagle putt on the 533-yard par-5 was waiting for him.
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His fist pump after holing it to complete a round of 7-under 64 carried the same nonchalance he’s had throughout a dominant week.
“Obviously I did what I wanted to. Drove it in the fairway and knocked it on the green, and obviously making that putt is a bonus,” Johnson said. "It was a pretty tough putt, up and over a ridge and breaking a lot. But had perfect speed on it and it went in.”
At 22-under 191, Johnson is atop the leaderboard by five shots going into Sunday’s final round. If he can finish the job, he’ll pick up his second win of the season — he won New England’s other PGA Tour stop, the Travelers Championship in Connecticut, in July — and the $1.71 million purse.
As exciting as it was to rip through the front nine in a record-setting 27 strokes on the way to an 11-under 60 in Friday’s Round 2, Johnson immediately put the moment behind him.
“Obviously yesterday is gone, so today,” he said, “I was just worried about shooting as low as I could.”
With six birdies and the eagle on 18 against a bogey on No. 13, Johnson put together another staggering round, hitting 12 of 14 fairways, 15 of 18 greens.
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“Overall, it was good, he said. “I drove it in the fairway, which is what I wanted to do today. Put the ball in the fairway, because obviously from the fairway, you can attack the golf course, and I’m swinging really well with the irons. I’m really comfortable throughout the whole bag with the irons. I gave myself a lot of good looks at birdie, and you know, it was nice to roll in those last two putts for sure.”
Before closing out the day with the 40-footer, Johnson drained a birdie putt from 18 feet, 8 inches on No. 17. He sank 59 feet, four inches worth of putts altogether.
“Most of [that] footage of putts were on the last two holes,” he joked.
He was paired Saturday with the other Round 2 record-setter, Scottie Scheffler, who followed up Friday’s 59 — the 12th sub-60 in PGA Tour history — with a 4-under 67 to stay tied for second with Harris English at 17 under.
Johnson said their record rounds didn’t come up much as they walked the course.
“I just told him nice playing,” Johnson said.
Scheffler tried not to make their pairing a shootout.
“I wasn’t really paying attention too much to what he was doing,” Scheffler said. “Trying to stay in my own world and keep plugging along. I did a good job of that. Dustin played a great round today and gave himself a little cushion for tomorrow, but [I’m] still not too far back.”
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The round of the day belonged to Tyrrell Hatton. After shooting an even-par 71 on Friday, he went for an 8-under 63 and jumped into a tie for ninth at 12 under. He hit 9 of 14 fairways after hitting just six in Round 2, but he said he felt better about his second round.
“Stats lie sometimes,” he said. “I actually played quite nicely yesterday. Me and [caddie] Mick [Donaghy] were laughing. It’s probably the unluckiest round of golf I’ve had in a very long time. I looked at my stats and they were horrible yesterday and I actually felt like I played good.
“Obviously, today was great. Gave myself so many opportunities and my irons were probably the best they had been all year. They were spot on today and thankfully I was able to take advantage.”
Johnson has been within striking distance of claiming the top spot in the Official World Golf Rankings for weeks, and a win here could thrust him into that position. Current No. 1 Justin Thomas sits at 7-under 206 after a 71, good for a tie for 34th.
Taking the first event in this year’s FedEx Cup playoffs would also set him up nicely for a run at his first championship. (That’s despite winning four prior playoff events, including this tournament twice when it was played in New Jersey, in 2017, and also in 2011 when it was known as The Barclays.) He came into the Northern Trust at 15th in the points standings.
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“The FedExCup is something I have not won and I would like to win,” Johnson said. “It’s definitely something on my list of goals to accomplish. I would like to be a FedExCup champion. So obviously, you know, these next couple weeks are jockeying for good position for going into [The Tour Championship in] East Lake, and hopefully, I can better my number and get up there in a good position so I can have a chance to win it.”
Right now, he still has to close out in Norton. And knowing what he knows about how the course has played so far, he’s preparing himself to go low again Sunday.
“Obviously guys are going to shoot pretty low,” Johnson said. “So I still need to go out and play a good round.”
Julian Benbow can be reached at julian.benbow@globe.com.
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It’s Dustin Johnson’s title to lose in Norton, up five at the Northern Trust - The Boston Globe
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