Johnson's 65 moves him to top of youthful leaderboard at Doral
By Helen Ross, PGATOUR.COM Chief of Correspondents
DORAL, Fla. -- The World Golf Championships-Cadillac Championship didn't exactly get off to a good start for Dustin Johnson. Or his grandfather, for that matter.
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That's because Johnson's opening drive on Thursday strayed down the right side of the fairway and connected with Art Whisnant's temple. Not to worry, though. It didn't hit a bone and the bruise is barely visible now.
Whisnant was even upright when Johnson got to his ball -- just as the horn blew to suspend play. Johnson was unconcerned about the abrupt delay. He just wanted to make sure his grandfather, who played basketball at South Carolina in the early 1960s and was a fifth-round draft pick of the Los Angeles Lakers, was OK.
"He said it hit him on the fly, but there's no way," Johnson said, grinning Saturday as he recounted the tale for a gathering of reporters.
The lanky South Carolinian is on track for a much better end to the week, though. Johnson fired a 65 in Saturday's third round at TPC Blue Monster, the lowest score of the day, and now owns a two-stroke lead at 13 under over Luke Donald, Matt Kuchar and Nick Watney.
Watney was actually tied for the lead before hitting his drive at the 18th hole into the water on the way to a double bogey. Adam Scott, Rory McIlroy, Francesco Molinari and Hunter Mahan, who also tumbled out of the lead with bogeys his last two holes, are deadlocked at 10 under while the resurgent Padriag Harrington is another stroke behind.
"Not even three shots, but four or five shots back has a chance," Molinari said. "It's a golf course where you can make a few birdies but a few bogeys as well. I think there's still a lot to happen tomorrow."
Indeed. But Johnson has history on his side as he looks to win on Sunday for the fifth time in his career. The 54-hole leader has gone on to win the Cadillac Championship nine of its 11 years -- and all four times it has been previously played at Doral.
To win, though, the 26-year-old Johnson will have to beat some of the best young players in the game on another windswept afternoon at TPC Blue Monster. People he's likely to be competing against for many years to come.
Of the 67 players remaining in the field, 26 are under the age of 30 like Johnson, who had a legitimate chance to win two majors last year. Six of those are positioned in the current top 10 within four strokes of his lead -- and Scott, Kuchar and Donald aren't exactly graybeards at the ages of 30, 32 and 33, respectively.
But Tiger Woods and Phil Mickelson, both former champions at Doral who ranked Nos. 1-2 in the world last fall, are well back in the pack. Woods, struggling through a swing change, trails by 11 and the 40-year-old Mickelson by 13.
"There's a lot of really good young players," Johnson said. "When you talk about Tiger and Phil, they are always going to be in the mix, maybe not every week, but they are going to be in the mix because they are great players. They have been great players for a long time.
"But there's a lot of good young players coming up right now that you are going to see at the top of the leaderboard a lot."
Donald vaulted to a career-high third in the world when he won the World Golf Championships-Accenture Match Play Championship two weeks ago. And the steady Englishman, who shot a 66 Saturday that was only marred by a bogey on the 18th, could climb yet another spot if he wins on Sunday.
"I'm certainly playing very good golf right now, some of the best I've ever played," Donald said. "So as I said, I don't really take too much notice of the World Rankings. It would be great to get to that No. 1 spot and it certainly is very attainable right now, just how close the points are.
"But I'm still going to keep continuing to concentrate on getting better and hopefully I can have a good day tomorrow and we'll see what happens."
Kuchar joins Donald and McIlroy among the top-10 players in the world and on the leaderboard. He's seen the highs of the game, winning as a 24-year-old only to have to double back to the Nationwide Tour before regaining his footing among the elite over the last three seasons.
His consistency has been eye-opening. In his last 31 starts dating back to the start of the 2010 season -- when he led the PGA TOUR money list, Kuchar has finished in the top 10 15 times -- including a tie for third at Doral last year. He's risen to a career-high 10th in the rankings and finished second in the FedExCup a year ago.
"I would hope for everybody who has played professional golf, their goal has been to be the best," Kuchar said. "Certainly most of us don't come straight out and dominate. Most of us make the steps. I've made the steps and it's a fun place to be."
Johnson and the others are taking those steps, too. And a win Sunday would elevate them in more ways than one.
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