Clearly, Dustin Johnson is not planning to relinquish the world No.1 ranking anytime soon.
Johnson overcame a final-round charge from Spaniard Jon Rahm and a late flurry from England’s Tommy Fleetwood to capture the WGC–Mexico Championship by a shot. It is Johnson’s second win in a month, his first as No.1 and represents a 14th US PGA Tour title. He won the same event two years ago when in was staged in Florida.
If there was any doubt over Johnson’s ability to close, he silenced his critics with a high-risk but high-finesse shot into the final green at Club de Golf Chapultepec in Mexico City. Cradling a one-stroke edge and with his ball in a fairway bunker in such a position that required his feet to be placed precariously partly in and partly outside the sand and well above the ball, Johnson blasted his wedge into the heart of the green and almost made the birdie putt for good measure. It was a contender for the shot of the season so far.
Johnson led by four shots after carding four birdies on the front nine, but when Rahm eagled the 11th hole and birdied the 14th and 15th while Johnson was bogeying 12 and 13, the lead briefly fell upon the shoulders of the man playing his first World Golf Championship event. The pressure proved too much for Rahm, who dropped shots at 16 and 17 to surrender his chance at being the first sub-23-year-old to win twice in a season before the Masters since Robert Gamez in 1990.
Ahead, Fleetwood canned a 40-foot birdie putt on the 18th green to finish 13-under (66) before Johnson’s sandy heroics were enough to remain 14-under (68) and one clear of a field that included 49 of the world’s top-50 players.
But the signature moment remained Johnson’s composure on the last hole. Describing his play with the 54-degree club as “kinda ‘dink’ with a wedge”, he initially downplayed the praise for his poise and artistry in typically smooth Johnson style, before calling it “the best shot I hit all week”.
The US Open champion won this event with his tee-to-green game, topping the field for strokes gained tee-to-green and proximity to the hole. Johnson raised the trophy despite missing 16 putts inside 10 feet for the week – tieing the high number for a winner of a US Tour event in any of the past 10 seasons.
The Australians endured a miserable week, with defending champion Adam Scott’s tie for 45th the best effort of the five players in Mexico.
* West Australian Jarryd Felton won his second PGA Tour of Australasia title by claiming the Lawnmaster Horizon Golf NZ PGA Championship in a thrilling playoff against Victorian Josh Younger and New Zealand’s Ben Campbell.
Felton, Campbell and Younger finished tied at 14-under at the end of 72 holes, forcing a return trip to Manawatu Golf Club’s 18th tee for a playoff. Felton drove wildly but rallied quickly to make a winning birdie.
“I didn’t hit too good of a tee shot; I think I got pretty lucky actually. I capitalised and made the putt. I don’t think the Kiwi fans were too happy!” the 21-year-old laughed, adding that he gradually found a way to navigate the narrow Manawatu layout.
“I came in to the week not feeling so confident but the more rounds I played around this course I started to grow in confidence, and to win is a great feeling.
“I didn’t get too far ahead of myself; I could’ve had some really good scores the first two days but lost a couple of balls up trees early. I didn’t let it affect me because I knew there were a lot of other people walking back to tees. I just kept playing my game, I knew there was plenty of birdies out here, as shown by the scores, so I was able to keep it going.”
Felton shot to prominence in late 2015 when he won the NSW PGA Championship in just his fifth start as a professional. Yet now he says this latest title is his biggest achievement to date.
“It ranks pretty high this one, I’ve had a lot of things going on mentally the past few months so to win is really good,” Felton said.
The win gives Felton a full exemption on the ISPS Handa PGA Tour of Australasia for the remainder of 2017 and entirety of 2018, allowing him peace of mind for the rest of this season.
Campbell was awarded the Sir Bob Charles Trophy for finishing the leading New Zealander in the field.
“I obviously would’ve much rather have both trophies, but silverware is silverware,” Campbell said. “It was a bit disappointing; I hit the ball really well today I just struggled with the putter all day.”
The PGA Tour of Australasia remains in New Zealand this week, heading to Millbrook Resort for the ISPS Handa NZ Open.
* Former world No.1 and reigning Olympic golf medallist Inbee Park has signalled her intentions to once again rule women’s golf with a commanding final-round performance to claim the LPGA Tour’s HSBC Women’s Champions in Singapore.
Park, who was making only her second start since Rio last August, carded a course-record 64 in the final round to edge Ariya Jutanugarn by a shot at Sentosa Golf Club. It was her second victory at this event, after also winning the 2015 edition.
The thumb injury that plagued Park’s 2016 season is now a distant setback as she plucked nine birdies from the fifth to 17th holes, allowing her the luxury of a final-hole bogey to still win by one.
“I thought it might take maybe a couple months to get back out on the Tour and to get my rhythm back. I thought I was going to be just a little bit rusty. That’s how I felt last week,” Park said. “This week was totally different. Especially the final round, [which] was just what I wanted.”
Renowned for her sublime putting, Park relied on the shortest club in her bag to great effect in Singapore.
“My putting was amazing today, obviously,” Park said after taking a mere 27 putts while hitting 17 of 18 greens in regulation. “Yesterday I was really disappointed with my putter. I couldn’t make any putts yesterday and obviously I made up for it today.
“Today was pretty much, everything I looked at wanted to drop in. It was very consistent ball-striking all week, and obviously there were a lot of birdie opportunities out there and I was able to convert many of them today.”
* Dean Burmester fired a closing 65 to win his first European Tour title in emphatic fashion at the Tshwane Open in South Africa.
The local player turned in 29 on Sunday and opened up a six-shot lead at one point before the nerves kicked in and he came home in level par to finish the week at 18-under. That jittery finish allowed Spaniard Jorge Campillo and Finn Mikko Korhonen to get within three shots, but it was a comfortable win in the end for Burmester.
He entered the week without playing privileges on the European Tour after finishing 140th on last season’s Race to Dubai, but this win represented a continuation of some excellent early season form.
A top-10 finish at the BMW SA Open earned him a spot in the field for the Abu Dhabi HSBC Championship where he claimed seventh spot. A tie for 11th at last week’s Joburg Open left the 27-year-old feeling confident a first European Tour win – to add to his six Sunshine Tour triumphs – was not far away and he duly delivered at Pretoria Country Club.
The victory could take him into the top 100 in the Official World Golf Ranking and means that South Africans have won this event in four of its five stagings.
“I can’t believe it,” Burmester said. “I’ve had an amazing summer and last week was a frustrating day for me on Sunday and it didn’t go my way, but then my family and everyone who supported me said, ‘We’re coming up next week so you better win in front of us.’ And I’m glad to have done that.
“I sharpened my teeth as a youngster on the Big Easy Tour here at home and I think I had five seconds in one year and then two years later I had four wins on the Sunshine Tour. It’s gone strength to strength and now I’m a European Tour winner and that sounds great.”
