Jason Day of Australia collected his fourth victory of the season, playing the weekend in 63-62 to win the PGA Tour opener, The Barclays, by six strokes over Henrik Stenson of Sweden at Plainfield Country Club in Edison, N.J.
Day, who claimed the biggest victory of his career earlier this month in the PGA Championship at Whistling Straits, birdied three of the first seven holes and five of the last nine to run away from the field and take the FedEx Cup points lead from Jordan Spieth, who missed the cut.
“I’m just trying to improve very time out,” said Day, who has won three of his last four starts to run his career victory total on the PGA Tour to six. “It’s been a special summer for me and it’s not over yet.
“To play the way I did over the weekend was just fantastic. It was phenomenal golf. It was a good way to start off the playoffs and I’m looking forward to (the Deutsche Bank Championship) next week.”
Stenson, 2014 FedEx Cup champion, closed with a 4-under-par 66, while Dustin Johnson, the 36-hole leader, shot 69 and was eight shots back in solo third.
Zach Johnson, who claimed his second major title in the Open Championship at St. Andrews last month, posted a 69 and was another shot behind in a tie for fourth with Zac Blair, who had a 66.
Sang-Moon Bae of South Korea, who shared the third-round lead with Day, could manage only a 72 and 72 and wound up 10 shots down in a tie for sixth with Daniel Summerhays, who carded a 66, and Ryan Palmer, who came in at 70.
Dustin Johnson, who won the 2011 Barclays at Plainfield, finished with a 65 and was another stroke back in a tie for ninth with Jason Bohn, who also had a 69.
Jim Furyk tied for 11th after a 66, Justin Rose of England tied for 16th following a 70 and Phil Mickelson struggled to a 73 to tie for 50th.
Brian Harman became the third player in PGA Tour history and the first since Yusaku Miyazato in the 2006 Barracuda Championship to make two holes in one in a round, acing the par-3 third hole and the par-3 14th hole.
“I’m still in shock about it,” said Harman, whose only PGA victory came in the 2014 John Deere Classic. “It’s pretty crazy to play a hundred-some-odd tournaments and never have one, but to have two in the same tournament is pretty awesome.”
Harman shot 68 and tied for 30th.
