BROKEN ARROW, Okla. — Dustin Johnson finally looks to be getting his game back together, posting a 7-under 63 on Saturday to take a 2-shot lead into the final round of LIV Golf Tulsa.
Johnson, a two-time major winner and former No. 1 player in the world, won the points title in LIV Golf’s final season. But he has yet to finish closer than 5 shots of the winner in the five events of the Saudi-funded league this year.
His 63 at Cedar Ridge came with a bogey on the final hole. Johnson was at 14-under 126, 2 shots ahead of Branden Grace of South Africa. Grace, who opened with a 61, had a 67.
Bubba Watson shot 64 and was 4 shots behind. No one else was closer than 5 shots going into the third and final round.
Talor Gooch, who grew up in Oklahoma and played at Oklahoma State, won the past two LIV Golf events. He shot a 71 on Saturday and was 13 shots behind.
Charles Howell III had the low round among the six players with Oklahoma ties. Howell, who played at Oklahoma State, was 8 shots behind at 134 along with fellow Cowboys alumnus Matthew Wolff (68) and former Oklahoma Sooner Abraham Ancer (66).
Phil Mickelson, a runner-up at the Masters, had four bogeys in his round of 69 and was near the bottom of the leaderboard in the 48-man field.
Johnson could be peaking at just the right time with the PGA Championship next week at Oak Hill. Brooks Koepka won the LIV event in Orlando, Florida, a week before the Masters and then was runner-up with Mickelson at Augusta National.
Seventeen players at Cedar Ridge are playing the PGA Championship next week.
Former PGA champion Martin Kaymer also is eligible but has withdrawn as he eases his way back from a wrist injury. LIV goes to Trump National outside Washington the week after the PGA Championship, which would have meant competing three weeks in a row.
