Florida: Dustin Johnson didn't start the season the way he wanted, not with only one decent chance at winning.
His start at the Cadillac Championship wasn't much better.
On his opening tee shot on Thursday at Doral, his drive sailed to the right and struck a spectator in the head. Turns out it was his grandfather, Art Whisnant, a former basketball star at South Carolina.
Suddenly, everything is looking up.
Johnson hit his stride and found his swagger on Saturday on the back nine of the Blue Monster, shooting a 31 to emerge from a crowd of top players with a 7-under 65 and a two-shot lead going into the final round.
The 26-year-old American hit what he called a "bunt drive" that went 310 yards on the 17th, leaving him a wedge into 2 feet. That was the last of his eight birdies, and put him atop the leaderboard. A short time later, after Nick Watney missed two short birdie putts and put his tee shot into the water on No. 18, Johnson had the lead to himself.
"I played well today — drove it well, putt it well, hit the ball well," Johnson said. "So I'm going to have to do that again tomorrow."
One look at the guys behind him makes that clear.
Johnson was at 13-under 203, although seven players were within three shots of him, none lower than No 31 in the world.
That group does not include Tiger Woods and Phil Mickelson, who finished before the leaders teed off and remain out of the mix. The surprise is that it doesn't include Martin Kaymer, either. The new No 1 was in the final group with Hunter Mahan, one shot out of the lead, until he took double bogey from the water on the third hole and struggled to a 74.
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