WASHINGTON: World number one Dustin Johnson capped a two-under-par 68 with a birdie at the last to seal a three-stroke victory in the US PGA Tour Championship and earn the $15 million FedEx Cup play-off title on Sunday.
Johnson finished with a 21-under-par total at East Lake Golf Club in Atlanta — three shots clear of Americans Xander Schauffele and Justin Thomas.
“I hit the fairways when I needed to coming down the stretch,” said Johnson, who started the day with a five-shot lead.
He rolled in an 18-foot birdie putt at the third, a 10-footer at the fifth and a three-footer at the sixth.
But bogeys at the seventh and eighth — where he was in a fairway bunker — opened the door just a crack for Thomas and Schauffele.
Neither could do enough, never getting the deficit below two strokes as Johnson parred nine straight, a run that included a 21-foot par-saving putt at the 13th.
He was in the fairway at the par-five 18th, but his approach hit the bank in front of the green and bounced back into the greenside bunker. He blasted out to five feet and made the putt for a closing birdie.
The 36-year-old claimed his 23rd US PGA Tour title and his third since the tour resumed in June after a three-month coronavirus shutdown.
He’s the first overall points leader since 2009 to win the season-ending showdown for the $15 million play-off prize.
Johnson had a head start coming into Eastlake. He began the week on 10-under thanks to his season points edge.
Spain’s second-ranked Jon Rahm was next on 8-under with third-ranked Thomas on 7-under and others up to 10 shots adrift in the staggered start system.
Rahm, who edged Johnson in a play-off at the BMW Championship a week earlier, finished alone in third on 17-under after closing with his second straight 66. — AFP
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