Jamie Squire/LIV Golf via Getty Images
Dustin Johnson was poised to be in the driver’s seat before falling back into a tie for the lead with Carlos Ortiz at the LIV Golf Invitational Series event at Pumpkin Ridge Golf Club in North Plains, Oregon.
Johnson and Ortiz are sitting at eight under, two shots ahead of Brooks Koepka in third place.
Johnson wasn’t much of a factor in LIV’s inaugural event outside of London in June. He opened with a one-under 69 and finished in eighth place. Friday was a return to form in the first half.
Through nine holes, the 38-year-old was already at five under for the round.
With a birdie on No. 12, it looked like Johnson would effectively have one hand on the title before Saturday’s round even got started.
Then things began to unravel. He bogeyed three of the next four holes as the gap on Ortiz shrunk to one shot. An impressive par save on No. 17 spared him a worse fate, and it proved especially important when Ortiz birdied No. 18.
The winner at Pumpkin Ridge will earn a cool $4 million. Johnson, who has won more than $74.4 million over his PGA Tour career, might be cashing a very large check Saturday.
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