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Dustin Johnson grabs massive 5-shot lead headed into final round at Tour Championship

Unsurprisingly, Dustin Johnson seems poised to officially claim his first FedExCup on Monday.

Johnson — who won The Northern Trust and just barely lost last week in a playoff — surged ahead on Sunday at East Lake. He posted a 6-under 64 in the third round of the Tour Championship, surging ahead to build a five-stroke lead headed into Monday’s final round.

‘I’m comfortable in the position I’m in’

Johnson’s lone bogey of the day came on No. 11, though he rebounded quickly and posted three birdies in his final seven holes en route to the 64. He drilled a 10-foot birdie putt on the 18th to match the low round of the day, hit all but three fairways and was putting for birdie on all but three holes.

He now sits a full five shots ahead of both Justin Thomas and Xander Schauffele, who are in second at 14-under par.

A win in the final round on Monday will mark Johnson’s third of the season, and his first FedExCup title — which comes with a massive $15 million prize.

“He’s showcased what he can do,” Schauffele said, via the Associated Press. “If he does what he normally does, it’s going to be almost impossible to catch him.”

Johnson is in the midst of a tremendously impressive stretch.

Johnson came in second at the PGA Championship, and then backed that up with a win at The Northern Trust — the first of three FedExCup Playoffs events — by a whopping 11 strokes. That win helped him reclaim the World No. 1 ranking, too, and jumped him to the top of the FedExCup standings.

He nearly won last week at the BMW Championship near Chicago, forcing a playoff after sinking a wild breaking birdie putt on No. 18. Jon Rahm, however, topped him with an insane 66-footer of his own on the first playoff hole.

“I’m comfortable in the position I’m in,” Johnson said Sunday, via the PGA Tour. “Even the two Sundays where I didn't win, I felt like I played really solid rounds. Just a couple guys played a little bit better.

“Tomorrow is more of the same. I just need to go out and focus on what I'm doing and try and shoot the lowest score I can.”

Based on how it’s been going, it’s going to take a more than impressive outing for someone to catch Johnson — who can finally avenge his 2016 outing at the Tour Championship, where he entered the final round tied for the lead but closed with a 73.

Schauffele knows even a good start on his part likely won’t be enough.

“If I birdie the first three holes, it's not going to faze him,” Schauffele said, via the PGA Tour. “It's DJ.”

PGA Tour's Dustin Johnson
Dustin Johnson leads the field at the Tour Championship by five headed into the final round. (Ben Jared/PGA TOUR/Getty Images)

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