JOHNSON WINS WITH BIG FINISH
World’s No. 1 golfer cruises to his first Canadian Open crown, writes Dave Hilson.
Signing with RBC this year, and coming up here and winning, especially on a golf course where I’ve had success, it means a lot.
If this was Glen Abbey’s going away party, it sure was one heck of a bash. World No. 1 Dustin Johnson busted out of the gates for the second consecutive day to break away from his three third-round co-leaders to win the RBC Canadian Open for the first time. Johnson, who has twice been T2 at this tournament, in 2016 and 2013, birdied his first two holes and the eighth and then waited out an hour-and-40-minute weather delay to win his third event of the PGA Tour season and 19th of his career with a score of 23-under.
His back nine included a bogey and four birdies, with two coming on the final three holes for a 6-under 66. Johnson picks up 500 FedExCup points to further solidify his top spot in the standings. And while a Canadian still hasn’t won this tournament since 1954, Johnson is about as close as you can get. Not only does the lanky 34-year-old have the laid-back disposition of a Canuck, his fiancée is Paulina Gretzky, the daughter of hockey great Wayne Gretzky. Johnson is also sponsored by RBC, the tournament’s main sponsor, so pretty much everyone has to be happy with this result, in what could be last time the event is held at the 7,253-yard, par-72 course designed by Jack Nicklaus. ClubLink, the owner of the property, is looking to put a housing and commercial realwestate development on the land and the tournament may not be back here again. Hamilton Golf and Country Club is hosting the tournament next year and in 2023. “Winning here definitely means a lot,” said Johnson, who picks up $1.116 million for his troubles. “Signing with RBC this year, and coming up here and winning, especially on a golf course where I’ve had success, it means a lot. Obviously, having a lot of ties to Canada with Paulina, her dad, Wayne, who thanks to him I get a lot of fans out here, so it makes it a lot more fun playing out here in front of a big crowd. I had a lot of support this week.” If Johnson, who rebounded nicely from missing the cut at the British Open last week, winning isn’t enough for you, Mackenzie Hughes of nearby Dundas, Ont., took a run at the leaderboard and finished tied for eighth at 15-under.
South Koreans Whee Kim and Byeong Hun An, who had a share of the lead coming into the day, finished tied for second at 20-under after shooting 69s. American Keegan Bradley finished in fourth place at 19-under after firing an 8-under 64, the low round of the day, while Abraham Ancer of Mexico came in fifth at 18-under. Kevin Tway, who held a share of the 54-hole lead for the first time in his career, had a rough day, soaring to a 4-over 76 to finish tied for 17th at 13-under. While Johnson got off to a strong start, Kim and An couldn’t get much going.
Two front-nine birdies by Kim were cancelled out by two bogeys, while An, who was playing with Johnson, bogeyed the par-5 2nd and didn’t get back the stroke until the seventh hole. They both tried to make a run on the back nine with three birdies, but there was no catching Johnson.
Bradley charged up the leaderboard when he holed out on the par-4 9th hole from 151 yards out for an eagle. He then added four birdies on the back nine, including three straight to close out his tournament.
“It’s probably my most tidy short game putting tournament since I switched away from the belly putter,” Bradley said. “So it’s a really big step forward for me, and it’s so fun to be able to play with a chance to win.” The Glen Abbey party was briefly put on hold when inclement weather struck for the second time this week. The horn blew at 3:26 p.m. local time because of rain and lightning. Southwestern Ontario was under a tornado watch, though it never got that bad.
Play resumed at 5:12 p.m. And when it did, Johnson kept the party kept going. Hughes, whose last victory on the PGA Tour came at the RSM Classic last season, picked up his second consecutive Rivermead Cup as low Canadian, though he says he’s a little disappointed he left a couple of strokes on the board, especially on the reachable par-5, 18th where he failed to drop his birdie putt. “Those par-5s coming in, they were both playing downwind, and if you’re out here and playing with your buddies, you’d probably birdie them both. It’s tougher when there is pressure. But, yeah, overall I’m very satisfied with the week,” said Hughes, who is projected to climb 22 spots in the FedExCup standings to No 152. “I know that a birdie on
18 and every shot coming in really meant a lot, because once you get up to the top-five, topthree kind of echelon, the points really ramp up. I kind of sensed that opportunity coming in, and maybe got a little bit tight at the end. I don’t leave that putt short ordinarily, so that’s just me getting a bit tight. But, yeah. I’ve got two weeks left, and I’m trying to make a push for top 125, and next week hopefully I can keep building on it.”
The top 125 make it into the playoffs.