By Rahul Banerji
Dustin Johnson turned in a nerveless display of golf to win his first FedEx Cup and Tour Championship in Atlanta on Monday and said it was a big tick mark in his book.
“Being a FedExCup champion is something that I really wanted to do,” the world no. 1 said on Monday at East Lake Golf Club.
“I wanted to hold that trophy at the end of the day. It was something that I wanted to accomplish during my career.
“It’s a very tough trophy to win. I controlled my own destiny, but I still had to go out and play well.
“I had a lot of great players right behind me. It got close at the end. I knew it was going to come down the stretch and I’d have to hit some golf shots.”
Breathing space
In the end, it was a three-shot win ahead of overnight pursuers Xander Schauffele and Justin Thomas. Both got close at different points in the final round, but never close enough.
“This is a tough golf course. No lead is safe,” Johnson said later. “The guys gave me a good fight today.”
Johnson had taken a five-shot lead into the final round of the season, but that shrank over the next 15 holes.
Three critical shots however – a long par putt and two well-placed mid irons – made sure the pressure was equally on his chasers, who ultimately could not overhaul Johnson’s four-shot starting advantage.
Adding his $15 million cheque from Monday, Johnson has on-course earnings of just under $19 million in all since early August.
The rest came from his win in the Northern Trust and two second-places, at the PGA Championship and the BMW Championship.
For the books
Monday’s result was his 23rd career title on the PGA Tour Win and came in his 274th start.
For Asia, it was another close call, added a PGA Tour statement.
Korea’s Sungjae Im walked away from the season finale with a final level par round of 70 and 11th place.
The 22-year-old was within touching distance after day two, just one shot shy of the winner.
A third round of 72 and then Monday’s 70 that included six birdies, four bogeys and one double bogey sank his hopes.
Top finisher
Im though was the lead Asian finisher, ahead of Japan’s Hideki Matsuyama, who has done so for six straight seasons since 2014. He had to settle for tied 15th place with a closing 70.
“I was off to a great start, but not the rounds I wanted the last few days,” Im said.
“I would have liked to finish inside the top 10, and I’m definitely a little disappointed.
“I’m looking forward to the new season and I’ll keep preparing and practicing,” said Im, who earned a $750,000 bonus for his finish and took his season’s haul to slightly over $5 million.
Matsuyama had four bogeys against as many birdies to seal his his 15th top-25 finish of the season which also included five top-10s.
Some facts
From a list circulated by the PGA Tour, here are a few highlights of DJ’s run.
*Johnson won the FedEx Cup and Tour Championship for the first time in his career
*Johnson was the first no. 1 seed to win the FedEx Cup since Tiger Woods in 2009
*In FedEx Cup Playoffs, Johnson owns the most wins (6), top-fives (13) and top-10s (21)
*Johnson entered the final round with the 54-hole lead/co-lead in his fourth straight start: PGA Championship (T2), the Northern Trust (won), BMW Championship (P2) and Tour Championship (won).
The last player to do so in four consecutive stroke-play events was Tiger Woods in 1999, culminating with his Tour Championship win.
Incidentally, Rory McIlroy finished T8 in his bid to become the first three-time FedEx Cup champion and first to win in consecutive seasons
Also read: Gun Korean Sungjae Im hard on DJ’s heels at East Lake
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