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DUSTIN Johnson secured a three-shot Tour Championship victory to claim his first FedExCup title and a $ 15 million payday Monday when he capped a PGA Tour season that saw him return to the top of the world rankings.
The final event of the 2019-20 PGA Tour campaign looked set for a drama-free finale with Johnson starting the day with a five-shot cushion at East Lake Golf Club.
But the 36-year-old American needed almost everything, winning a final round of two-under at 68 to fend off 2017 FedExCup champion Justin Thomas and Xander Schauffele, who closed at four-under-66.
Johnson, who started the week 10-under as a result of the Tour Championship’s FedExCup scoring system, finished with a win total of 21-under, 269 to win his 23rd career title and third this season, all after of COVID-19 reboot. .
Having narrowly lost the FedExCup title four years ago when Irishman Rory McIlroy edged out Kevin Chappell and Ryan Moore in a three-man tiebreaker at the Tour Championship, Johnson, who rarely talks about his goals, made no secret of the fact that that winning it was a professional goal.
Johnson certainly played like a man on a mission, finishing first, second and first in all three playoff events.
“I wanted to be a FedExCup champion. It was something in my career that I would like to be and today I got the FedExCup, ”Johnson said. “I am very proud of the way I played, I played very well, especially in the last four tournaments.”
NOT MAJOR
The only thing Johnson didn’t win this season was a major title, although he came close to finishing second at last month’s PGA Championship.
But due to a scheduling reorganization created by the COVID-19 outbreak, there are still two golf races to play before the end of 2020, the Masters in November and the US Open from September 17-20 at Winged Foot Golf Club in Mamaroneck. , New York, where Johnson is sure to be the red-hot favorite. “I’m probably playing the best I’ve ever played,” Johnson said. “I really feel like everything is marked.
“I am very confident in every part of my game right now.”
Johnson’s game was firing into full steam as the final round action began when he made three birdies in the first six holes.
But back-to-back bogeys at seven past eight opened the door for Thomas and Schauffele in the final nine seconds when Johnson’s lead was reduced to three.
Schauffele increased the pressure with birdies at 11-12 to cut another shot off Johnson’s lead, while Thomas did the same with birdies at 16.
But Johnson was unfazed, with the world number one scoring eight straight pairs in the last nine before closing with a final birdie at 18.
“I had a lot of great players behind me and they played good golf today, and it came pretty close to the end, which is what I thought it would be,” Johnson said. – Reuters
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