Aug 25, 2018 4 min read

Bryson DeChambeau described himself as a “man on a mission,” and he sure played like one Saturday in The Northern Trust.

Now it’s a matter of which mission he’s on.

DeChambeau made four birdies in a five-hole stretch around the turn to pull away from a fading collection of stars, closed with two more birdies and had an 8-under 63 to build a four-shot lead over Keegan Bradley going into the final round of the opening FedEx Cup playoff event.

A victory would assure DeChambeau one of the top seeds at East Lake to have a clear shot at the $10 million bonus for winning the FedEx Cup.

“That would be something pretty special,” he said.

And the timing would be ideal for his Ryder Cup hopes. DeChambeau narrowly missed qualifying for the U.S. team when he missed the cut at the PGA Championship, but a victory against one of the strongest fields of the year might be tough for Jim Furyk to ignore when he makes three of his captain’s picks a week from Tuesday.

“I’ve just got to keep focusing on this tournament,” the 24-year-old Californian said. “If I can play well in the first leg of the FedEx Cup, I’ll hopefully show captain that I’m worthy.”

He played the part on a day when everyone else around him went the other direction.

DeChambeau and Adam Scott were the only players from the last 10 players to tee off who managed to break par, and Scott had to birdie three of his last four holes for a 70. He was six shots behind.

Dustin Johnson, trailing by two shots after 36 holes despite two triple bogeys, added a double bogey to his week and shot 72 to fall nine shots behind. Brooks Koepka, the U.S. Open and PGA champion who shared the 36-hole lead, began his slide with a three-putt bogey from 12 feet on No. 5 and by missing a 4-foot birdie putt on the next hole. He went 13 holes in the middle of his round with three bogeys and 10 pars and had to settle for a 72. He was seven behind.

Scott was one shot behind when he made two bogeys, then chopped up the par-3 11th for a double bogey.

“I really switched off there for five holes and made a mess of things around the turn,” Scott said. “Might have shot myself out of the tournament. We’ll see how it goes tomorrow, but it’s going to be costly and make life difficult for me to win this thing now.”

Tiger Woods had his first bogey-free round of the year, but managed only three birdies for a 68. He was 13 shots behind. In scoring conditions, Woods has seven birdies in 54 holes. DeChambeau made that many in 12 holes Saturday.

Henderson leads LPGA event: Brooke Henderson took the lead into the final round of the CP Women’s Open, fighting through gusting wind at Wascana Country Club in pursuit of a breakthrough home victory. The 20-year-old Canadian star shot a 2-under 70 in clear and cool conditions to reach 14-under 202. Jocelyne Bourassa is the only Canadian to win the national championship, accomplishing the feat in 1973 at Montreal Municipal in the inaugural La Canadienne.

Two tied for Web.com lead: Jim Knous birdied the first five holes and shot a 6-under 65 for a share of the third-round lead with Robert Streb in the Web.com Tour Finals-opening Nationwide Children’s Hospital Championship. Knous matched Streb at 12-under 201 on Ohio State University’s Scarlett Course. Streb, the second-round leader, birdied the par-4 18th for a 68.