Spieth holds three-shot lead at Northern Trust

Jordan Spieth entered the third round of The Northern Trust in a four-way tie for first place and ended up alone at the top of the leaderboard.

A back-nine birdie binge on Saturday propelled Spieth to a three-shot lead at 198 after 54 holes over Dustin Johnson, one of the third-round leaders.

Five behind the leader in the opening FedEx Cup playoff event are Paul Casey, Patrick Reed, Jon Rahm, Matt Kuchar.

Spieth shot a sizzling 6-under-par 64 at Glen Oaks Club in Old Westbury, N.Y., to move to 12-under after three rounds. His score matched the low round of the tournament.

“Putter started to heat up second half of yesterday’s round, and I kind of just created my own confidence off of couple putts yesterday that has led into the last 27 holes or so being some of the best golf that I played,” Spieth said.

Johnson couldn’t keep pace with a 67. Neither could Casey (66), Reed (66), Rahm (67) and Kuchar (68).

Spieth made three consecutive birdies starting at the 14th hole that led to four birdies and a 31 on the back nine, which he has found to his liking this week. On Friday, Spieth posted a 30 on the back.

The 24-year-old also made four birdies on the front side that were offset by bogeys at Nos. 1 and 9.

Now Spieth has in his sights his fourth victory of the season. The British Open champion certainly is in good position, having never lost a PGA Tour event after leading by two or more shots going into the final round.

“Anything can happen tomorrow,” Spieth said. “I expect some swings but if we stay focused on a goal, keep playing the way we’re playing, then should be fine.”

Johnson put himself in slightly better position with a closing birdie on the par-4 18th hole. He had one other birdie on the back nine, at No. 13, and two on the front to go along with a bogey at No. 8.

“Let’s be honest here. I’d rather have a three-shot lead,” Johnson said. “But it’s not that bad coming from three shots back, either, because that can change in one hole, really.

“But obviously Jordan’s playing really well, so he’s going to be tough to beat tomorrow. I just need to go out and do exactly what I’ve been doing the first three days. Just drive it in the fairway, hit quality iron shots. I feel like I’m swinging it very, very well. If I can drive it well again tomorrow and maybe hole a couple putts, maybe some of his putting will rub off on me and I’ll start holing them.”

Rickie Fowler, one of the four Friday leaders, had a bad day with a 74 and fell back into a tie for 22nd. Venezuelan Jhonattan Vegas, another of the Friday leaders, also struggled Saturday to a 72 that left him tied for 10th at 4 under.

Kevin Chappell matched Spieth’s 64 — the low round of the tournament — and was tied for eighth at 5 under.