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Gleaming private life, a lot of talent, and yet he often failed. Now Dustin Johnson fulfilled his childhood dream. While his predecessor Tiger Woods had a debacle.
One journalist wrote that he was something of a cowboy, stoically and stoically clearing one obstacle after another. Dustin Johnson, aka DJ, broke the big group at the Masters on Saturday with a dream round. On Sunday he started with a four-shot lead and had only a slight weakness when he lost two shots in a row and the pursuers were briefly able to draw hope. But really only briefly.
Johnson played all four rounds at Augusta National with virtually no emotion, as if it were a week of training and not the biggest tournament in the world. Rounds of 65, 70, 65 and 68 led to a record score of 268 or 20 under par and a 5 or more stroke advantage over the pursuers. Last year’s winner, Tiger Woods, from whom Johnson traditionally received the green winner’s jacket, needed 19 more hits.
Woods plays in the water three times
While Johnson won his second and most important major title after the 2016 US Open with impressive precision, Woods himself experienced every golfer’s nightmare. Ironically, on the 12th hole, the shortest but most treacherous on the course, disaster struck on Sunday: three of his shots landed in the water of Rae’s Creek, three penalty shots were the result. When his ball finally landed in the hole, there was a 10 on his scorecard at this par 3 hole.
7 missed shots on a hole, a debacle even for beginners. But the five-time Masters winner continued to play unimpressed, finishing five of his last six holes with a birdie. “I misjudged the wind on the 12th hole,” he commented laconically. However, he only finished the tournament in 38th place, and therefore behind Bernhard Langer, who at the age of 63 had survived the cut as the oldest player at the Masters.
“Now I have shown that I can defend an advantage on Sunday, and that in difficult conditions.”
Dustin Johnson had been No. 1 for 103 weeks, but he had often struggled in major tournaments. He had been the sole or shared leader four times before the final round, each time a different one had received the trophy. “Now I’ve shown that I can defend an advantage on Sunday, and that’s in difficult conditions,” Johnson said. “I had doubts if it would still be successful.”
Cocaine, marijuana and a break
Johnson, born in 1984, who was traveling with his brother as a caddy, is not only a striking figure for his height of 1.93 m and his thick beard. The long hitter made headlines in 2014 when he had to interrupt his career due to “personal challenges,” which is why “Golf Magazin” claimed that it was actually a six-month ban after testing positive for cocaine. In 2009 he had already tested positive for marijuana and in 2012 for cocaine.
Johnson also came to the People column through his relationship with Paulina Gretzky, daughter of ice hockey legend Wayne Gretzky. The two have been a couple for seven years, are now married with a five- and three-year-old son.
Johnson had to accept just four bogeys on his 72 fairways and set a new tournament record at 20 under par, which Woods had before him at 18 under par. At 20 under par, he also equaled the scoring record in the main story; only Henrik Stenson (British Open 2016) and Jason Day (PGA Championship 2015) had reached this mark before him.
Johnson is currently by far the best player, number 1 in the world rankings and former Fed champion. He had already played for the victory in the PGA Championship for a long time (he finished second behind young Californian Collin Morikawa) and finished the US Open in sixth place. His Masters title made him the third player after Jack Nicklaus and Tiger Woods, who have always won at least one PGA tournament for 13 years in a row.
DeChambeau way back
The second place was shared by the 22-year-old South Korean Sungjae Im and the five-year-old Australian Cameron Smith, the best European was Rory McIlroy in 5. One of the defeated was together with Woods US Open winner and ranged hunter Bryson DeChambeau, who also had to line up behind Bernhard Langer in 34th place.