Conclusion of FedEx Cup Playoffs presents opportunity for Johnson

Zach Johnson said something simple, yet profound when he nabbed his first British Open championship last July. The Cedar Rapids native proclaimed, 'This game provides great opportunity.”

As the PGA Tour's FedEx Cup Playoffs conclude this week at East Lake Golf Club in Atlanta, that statement rings especially true. The top five players in the rankings control their own destinies, yet the other 24 players can still win the entire FedEx Cup - but they'll just need to win and get some help.

In Johnson's case, he enters the season's final act just outside the coveted top 5 at No. 6 in the rankings. Johnson must win the Tour Championship and No. 1 Jason Day must finish tied for second or worse to claim the $10 million dollar FedEx Cup. Johnson can still have a mathematical chance to claim the hardware if he finishes second, but he'd just need help from those above him which include, in order, Day, Jordan Spieth, Rickie Fowler, Henrik Stenson and Bubba Watson.

Johnson begins this event coming off a sizzling 7-under 64 last Sunday in the FedEx Cup Playoff's penultimate BMW Championship at Conway Farms (where he won in 2013). Johnson said afterward he found a groove with his driver and applied patience to his overall approach. The results? A 6-under 30 on the back nine, ending with five straight birdies.

'If I go play well, then good things can happen,” Johnson said of this week. 'It's a golf course that doesn't exactly favor me in a lot of regards. But if the rough is up and healthy, then fairways are a premium, and I might be able to do some damage.”

Johnson did major damage at East Lake during the Playoffs' inaugural 2007 season when he fired a 10-under 60 and finished in a tie for second behind Tiger Woods.

Sitting just outside the guaranteed top five, does Johnson look at No. 6 as awkward?

'I don't believe it is, it's better than 7,” Johnson said.

'I'll take it, especially after my round (Saturday at BMW) where I made a bogey and no birdies and a lot of pars,” Johnson said.

But East Lake is a course that in recent play rewards grinding for pars. Since 2008, this event has seen four of seven winners finish in single-digits under par. Johnson's scrambling game looked in form last Saturday when he seemingly got up and down from everywhere. His driving and scoring found another gear on Sunday, so there's certainly reason to be optimistic.

From an energy standpoint, after 24 starts this year and 15 top 25s, Johnson is beginning to feel the toll of the season.

'I'm spent, I'm done,” Johnson said. 'I'm ready for a break. But I'm ready for a break more mentally than I am physically.

'Physically I'm fine. That's why I work out. That's why I've got a team of guys to get me motivated and get ready to play.

'I would say tiredness and just overall it's all good stuff,” Johnson said. 'It's good problems.”

Yes, the race for the biggest purse is golf is undoubtedly a good problem.