TOUR Championship 2020: Dustin Johnson Leads by 5 Strokes Entering Final Round

The 2020 Tour Championship is Dustin Johnson's to lose heading into the final round at East Lake Golf Club in Atlanta.

Johnson went six under on Sunday and now sits at 19 under for the tournament. Xander Schauffele and Justin Thomas sit five shots back at 14 under. Jon Rahm is all alone in fourth at 13 under.   

Johnson was looking at a four-shot advantage for Monday before a birdie on No. 18 provided him with an even bigger cushion.

Tour Championship Leaderboard

1. Dustin Johnson (-19)

T2. Xander Schauffele (-14)

T2. Justin Thomas (-14)

4. Jon Rahm (-13)

5. Collin Morikawa (-12)

T6. Daniel Berger (-10)

T6. Sungjae Im (-10)

8. Scottie Scheffler (-9)

T9. Rory McIlroy (-8)

T9. Brendon Todd (-8)

T9. Tyrrell Hatton (-8)

Full leaderboard available at PGATour.com

Johnson left the door open for the field with an even-par 70 in the second round. As a result, only one shot separated him from Sungjae Im in second place.

The 2016 U.S. Open champion made it clear early on that the third round would be a different story.

He was three under on the front nine to fortify his position atop the leaderboard. That momentum carried over to the back nine as he birdied No. 10. A bogey on No. 11 knocked Johnson back a bit, and he responded with two birdies over his next three holes.

Johnson's performance doesn't come as a complete shock. He sits first in the FedEx Cup standings, and he has reeled off two wins and six top-10 finishes in 13 events this season. All told, he has been the PGA Tour's best golfer in 2020.

Still, the ease with which he's coasting past the competition is impressive. With 18 holes to play, the question isn't whether he'll win the Tour Championship but rather how sizable his margin of victory will be.

Im did Johnson a small favor by going two over Sunday to effectively fall out of contention. Three straight bogeys on the front nine largely did him in.

Schauffele couldn't get into a groove. He closed with a birdie on No. 18 to briefly have sole possession of second place. Thomas joined him moments later with his own birdie.

The 2017 PGA Championship winner had an uneven day with five birdies and three bogeys. He also eagled No. 6 thanks to an expert chip.

Rahm was much better compared to Saturday, with the difference especially stark on the back nine. He gained two strokes over his last nine holes compared to losing four strokes over the same stretch in the second round.

In another year, any one of Schauffele, Thomas or Rahm would be poised for a triumph on Monday. Their scores would've been good enough to claim the title in any of the Tour Championship installments between 2014 and 2018.

Instead, they'll likely be fighting it out for runner-up positioning.