Golf: Johnson’s match play win caps sweep . . . but Rahm made him sweat
AUSTIN, TEXAS— Dustin Johnson won the Dell Technologies Match Play with more drama than he needed to cap off an otherwise dominant week that made him the first player to sweep the four World Golf Championships.
The scorecard will show Johnson never trailed in any of his seven matches over 112 holes, ending with a 1-up victory over Jon Rahm for his third consecutive victory that left no doubt who was No. 1 in the world.
The look of concern, especially as Rahm made a bold charge in the final hour Sunday, spoke to a long day.
Johnson was 4 up with six holes to play when the Spanish rookie with a big game and no fear hit driver over the water and onto the 13th green to win the hole with a birdie. He stuck a wedge close on the 15th for another birdie. Rahm hit a shot through the trees on the 16th and won the hole with a 30-foot birdie.
The rematch Rahm wanted against Johnson, who held him off in Mexico City three weeks ago, ended the same way. His big rally was a little short. Playing the 356-yard 18th hole for the first time in competition all week, and needing a birdie to send this heavyweight bout to overtime, Rahm smashed driver over the back of the green. But his chip down the slope checked up and stayed short of the ridge, and he had to settle for par.
Johnson came up just short of the green, chipped to 30 inches and rolled in it to complete another big week.
“That was a tough day, a long day,” Johnson said. “I’m proud of the way I played, the way I hung in there.”
None of his first five matches went longer than 16 holes until Sunday, when Johnson faced the first threat of the week. Hideto Tanihara caught him with two birdies on the back nine, and Johnson needed a pitching wedge to 6 feet on the short but troublesome par-3 17th to take the lead again. Then, he had to make an 8-foot par putt to beat Tanihara and avoid extra holes.
Johnson became just the second player in the 19-year history of this event to never trail the entire week. Luke Donald did it in 2001, but that was before round-robin play and so Donald played only six 18-hole matches that week.
Not only did Johnson never trail, he led in 94 per cent of the holes he played.