Dustin Johnson has one-shot lead at halfway point of Tour Championship

Dustin Johnson is playing better than anyone in the world, and Kevin Chappell can’t wait to watch him at the Tour Championship.

Even if that means having to beat him.

Johnson powered his way down the fairways and occasionally out of the brutal rough at East Lake Golf Club in Atlanta on Friday for a three-under-par 67, giving him a one-shot lead over Chappell and moving him one round closer to the $10-million FedEx Cup prize.

The U.S. Open champion is on a different level at the moment.

Even on a demanding test like East Lake this year — only 10 players remain under par — Johnson is hitting his driver long and straight. His wedge game has gone from a weakness to a strength. A new putter he put in play two weeks ago when he won the BMW Championship is giving him a better feel for alignment.

Small wonder that this was his seventh straight round at 68 or better during the FedEx Cup playoffs.

“The game is never easy. I wish it was,” Johnson said. “Obviously, I’m playing good right now. I’ve got a lot of confidence in my game. Every week, I feel like I bring the same game, which is nice. But I put in a lot of work to get to where I am.”

Johnson was at seven-under 203.

Chappell, one of two players at the Tour Championship who has yet to win on the PGA Tour, was just as solid, even if it doesn’t look as spectacular. He has made only one bogey in 36 holes, quite a feat on a course where the Bermuda rough is so punishing that balls sink to the ground and sometimes can’t be seen from a foot away.

He shot a 68 and will be in the final group of a playoff event for the second time this year.

Kevin Kisner (70) and Hideki Matsuyama (71) were four shots behind, while Rory McIlroy overcame another rough start on the front nine to post a 70. He was in the group five shots behind, which isn’t much of a deficit at the halfway point except for Johnson being the one they have to chase.

If nothing else, Johnson all but eliminated nearly everyone not among the top five seeds vying for the FedEx Cup. McIlroy is No. 6 and still has a chance, though he would have to win the Tour Championship and Johnson would have to finish third.

“I need to win, and I just need someone to play as good as Dustin this week,” McIlroy said.

Jason Day is out of the picture. The world’s No. 1 player withdrew in the middle of a round at the second straight tournament, citing the same nagging back issues that he hopes will be cured by rest.

By Day withdrawing, Johnson won the points-based PGA player of the year award and is likely to win the player vote as PGA Tour player of the year because of his three victories, with perhaps another to follow.

McCarron has first-round lead in Canada

Scott McCarron birdied five of the first six holes and finished with an eight-under 62 to take the first-round lead in the Pacific Links Bear Mountain Championship at Victoria, B.C.

The 51-year-old McCarron birdied all four par-five holes — Nos. 1, 12, 13 and 18 — in chilly conditions at Bear Mountain Resort, the first-year venue in the PGA Tour Champions event that was played in Hawaii from 2012-14.

McCarron won the Principal Charity Classic in June in Iowa for his first victory on the 50-and-over tour after winning three times on the PGA Tour.

Doug Garwood and Jerry Smith were tied for second at 64. Garwood played the back nine in six-under 30, and Smith had eight birdies and a bogey.

Woody Austin and Jeff Sluman shot 65, and Olin Browne and Wes Short Jr. followed at 66. Austin has three victories this year. Hall of Famers Vijay Singh and Colin Montgomerie topped the group at 67.

Levy has big lead at European Open

Frenchman Alexander Levy set a course record and opened up a six-shot lead before fading light shortened the second round of the European Open.

Levy will have to complete his round on the ninth hole on Saturday. Half the field will go out early Saturday for the second round, before the third round can start. Morning fog delayed start of play on both days so far.

Levy shot a nine-under in the morning for a course-record 62 as he completed the first round and was at 17-under when play was halted in the evening.

He made 17 birdies in 35 holes to open up a commanding lead over German Martin Kaymer, who also has one hole to play.

Robert Karlsson of Sweden and Englishman Ross Fisher, his playing partner, were also at 11-under — with three holes left to complete. Levy has missed action with a wrist injury this summer but has been in good form since his return in early September. He finished in a tie for seventh at last week’s Italian Open and is seeking his third European Tour title and first since the 2014 Portugal Masters.