Tough victory

For a man who can make golf look easy, Dustin Johnson can’t remember a victory more difficult.

He was five shots behind Jordan Spieth through five holes of the final round at The Northern Trust. He caught up to him in five holes, setting up a classic duel between two of the biggest names in golf that came down to the very end at Glen Oaks Club.

And then it became hard again for Johnson. He turned away in disgust when his tee shot on the 18th hole peeled away to the right, up a slope and into thick grass. He climbed the hill and saw his ball 18 feet from the hole.

“I knew I was going to have to make it when I walked up there,” Johnson said. “I thought I hit a better shot than that. I thought my par putt was going to be much closer. It ended up being the right distance, I guess. I mean, it went in.”

That was the moment when Johnson did to Spieth what Spieth seems to do to everybody. He made a big putt.

The ball swirled into the back of the cup, and they were headed for a sudden-death playoff, a bonus hole for the fans who were treated to a great show in the FedEx Cup playoff opener that starts the chase for a $10 million prize.

Johnson hit a 60-degree wedge after the longest drive on the 18th all week. He stuffed that to just inside four feet, and when Spieth missed, Johnson calmly rapped in his short birdie putt.

For Spieth, the disappointment of losing a 54-hole lead of at least two shots for the first time was tempered by the show they put on. “I didn’t lose the tournament,” Spieth said. “He won it.”