If you're anything like me, you had all-but written off The Northern Trust as the players teed off for the final round at Glen Oaks, New York. Jordan Spieth held a three-shot lead over nearest rival Dustin Johnson from the first tee box, before extending that to a five-shot lead with two birdies on the opening five holes. But then, a shambolic double-bogey on the sixth eradicated his outstanding start to the final day. Most people will tell you that's where it all came unravelled. I disagree. At the ninth hole, Spieth bogeyed again. This time it was only a single, but that didn't matter. DJ smelled blood. The World No. 1 hit his first birdie of the day, before following up with another at the tenth. Back-to-back birdies put DJ at -2 for the day, with Spieth up to +1. In two holes the three-shot lead was gone. Game on. 

The lack of British TV coverage left us with nothing but social media and the radio to follow the enthralling conclusion of this event. It was back to the stone ages for British golf fans. Like I said, I didn't anticipate a particularly interesting final round (Spieth himself admitted "I was hoping it wasn't going to be that much fun"). My interest was minimal until the back-nine, when my phone erupted with news that it was all square in New York. Needless to say, the radio was on in a heartbeat and I was crouched over it like some hideous Gollum-esque creature. Much to my delight, the action continued, with the pair sinking two birdies apiece between the thirteenth and fifteenth. The remaining holes saw both players hold their nerve for PARs, meaning a playoff was on the cards in the first FedEx Cup playoff event. And what a playoff it was.

Spieth got the luck of the draw and teed off first, hitting a solid shot on a nice line for about 314 yards. A good start. Johnson didn't hit a good shot off the tee. He hit an incredible, superhuman, out-of-this-world shot off the tee. The 33-year-old went where no man would even dare, aiming well left (Spieth had driven straight ahead) over the lake and ultimately getting where most players aim to be for their third stroke. DJ's iron play had been remarkable throughout the week, having dominated the highlight reels of every round with precise approach play, so when he dropped the ball a few feet from the hole we shouldn't have been surprised. But we were. For anybody who wasn't listening to the radio, I can tell you that the raucous ovation was titillating. You knew immediately that something special had happened (amidst the cries of disbelief, it took a while for the commentators to settle down and explain what had actually happened). It was a simple tap-in for victory and DJ was back to winning ways. Spieth, on the other hand, had suffered a shocking defeat. Having won 9/10 events when winning at the start of the final day, it was unthinkable that he could throw this one away. The Texan, though, claimed "I didn't lose the tournament, he (Dustin Johnson) won it."

Outside of the top two, there were several very interesting results. I predicted that the most exciting three-ball would be Johnson/Fowler/Rahm, saying that it would produce a minimum of one title challenger. Of course, it produced the eventual winner in Dustin Johnson. It also produced a T3 in Jon Rahm, who stayed at least two-under-par every day and had his consistency rewarded with a -9 as he tied Jhonattan Vegas for third place. Rickie Fowler looked dangerous at -6 heading into the weekend, but a 74-70 Saturday-Sunday left him at a disappointing T20 with -2. I told you Paul Casey and Matt Kuchar were sure to finish in the top-20 and could push for the top-10. Casey's -6 took fifth spot on the leaderboard, whilst a mixed weekend for Matt Kuchar saw him hit 71-64-68-73 for an overall -4 and T10, with the Friday 64 saving his (and my) blushes. Justin Thomas and Jason Day also met my high expectations, with the pair sharing T6 at -5. Thomas stayed on track for a likely Player of the Year award, showing a great deal of consistency as he followed up his opening round 68 with three consecutive 69 scores.  However, it didn't all go as I had anticipated. Hideki Matsuyama, who led the FedEx Cup rankings heading into the first playoff event, missed the CUT after scoring +3. Despite a one-under 69 on Friday, the World No. 3 couldn't recover from his opening 74. The man from Japan hit three birdies in a row, but was undone with bogeys at the sixteenth and eighteenth.

It was a fascinating start to the much-anticipated FedEx Cup playoffs, with Dustin Johnson and Hideki Matsuyama swapping fourth and first places, so the American now tops the rankings, and Justin Thomas and Jordan Spieth also switching between third and second to give Spieth a slight edge. Jon Rahm's T3 has seen him overtake Rickie Fowler for fifth position, whilst the other T3, Jhonattan Vegas, jumped from 29th to 10th to put himself in contention. Paul Casey leapfrogged six places to 12th, Jason Day started his usual end-of-season surge by jumping twenty spots to 29th and England's Justin Rose climbed eight to 24th thanks to his T10 at The Northern Trust.

The games have begun!

Written by Joe Carabini

joe.carabini@foremostgolf.com