BMW victory turns Johnson's summer around

Dustin Johnson earned a huge slice of redemption with his one-shot victory over Paul Casey yesterday in the BMW Championship at Cog Hill in Lemont, Ill.

Johnson, who earlier this summer shot an 82 after entering the final round of the U.S. Open at Pebble Beach with a three-shot lead and missed a playoff in the PGA Championship at Whistling Straits because of a two-shot penalty for grounding his club in a sand trap on the 72nd hole, shot a final-round 69 to move into second place in the FedEx Cup standings.

A victory in two weeks at the Tour Championship at East Lake Golf Club in Atlanta would earn him the FedEx Cup title and its $10 million bonus prize. It also would go a long way in easing the pain Johnson suffered for his meltdowns in two of the season's major championships.

Johnson hit a sand wedge to within 2 feet to birdie the 17th hole to overtake Casey, who enjoyed a three-shot lead at one point during the back nine before clicking off three straight bogeys. Casey's meltdown saved European Ryder Cup team captain Colin Montgomerie from having to eat an even larger slice of humble pie for not naming the fifth-ranked player in the FedEx Cup standings to his team.

Playing in the final group for the fourth time since June, Johnson closed with a 2-under 69 for his second victory of the season.

"To finally get it done, especially after all the things I've gone through this summer ... it can't feel any better," Johnson said. "I played really good golf today. I didn't make as many birdies as I would have liked, but I made just enough."

Johnson, 26, made three birdies, none more important than the last one.

Tied for the lead, Johnson knew the 17th hole might be his last good chance. He pulled driver and smashed his tee shot over the trees with a slight fade on the long par 4, the ball landing in the fairway and leaving him a just sand wedge that led to a tap-in birdie.

"I knew I needed to hit a good tee ball because it was going to be my best chance of making a birdie," he said. "I was just trying to cut a drive, hold it against the wind and get it around the corner a little bit. And I hit it perfect."

Missing a chance to advance to the final round of the PGA Tour's playoffs had to be humbling to the game's No. 1-ranked player: Tiger Woods. His FedEx Cup playoff campaign came to an end with a final-round 70.

It left him with a one-under total of 283, well off the lead and not enough to boost him into the top 30 places in the FedEx Cup standings. It marks the third time in five years that Woods has not played the Tour Championship. He missed in 2006 when he cut his season short, and in 2008 while recovering from knee surgery.

But it's the first time Woods will miss the event because he isn't eligible.

"That's just the way it is," Woods said. "I didn't play well early in the year and I didn't play well in the middle of the year."

Still, Woods said he was encouraged by his recent play, and believes the changes he has been working on with swing coach Sean Foley are coming together.

"I'm starting to play well now," Woods said. "I'm headed in the right direction, which is good, a lot of good signs, and I just need to keep working and stay the course."

Woods said he would spend a couple of weeks practicing before joining his U.S. teammates for the Ryder Cup in Wales October 1-3.

Information from Golf.com, PGATOUR.com and the Associated Press contributed to this post.