One Dell of a feat for world No1
FIRST FOR JOHNSON
DUSTIN JOHNSON has become the first player to win all four World Golf Championship events after beating Spaniard Jon Rahm by one hole in a dramatic Dell Match Play final.
World No1 Johnson overcame spirited resistance from Rahm to claim his third tournament victory in succession thanks to some superlative play – and a noisy toilet door.
The 32-year-old never trailed at any point in his seven matches and was not taken beyond the 16th hole until a hard-fought semi-final with Japan’s Hideto Tanihara.
He was then made to work hard to secure the first prize of £1.3million in the final as Rahm fought back from five down after eight holes to take the contest to the 18th.
But, with the chance to force a play-off, a loud noise – reported as a slamming portable toilet door – distracted Rahm and a poor chip shot ended his challenge.
Rahm was just starting his backswing for the 80ft shot at Austin Country Club in Texas when a sudden noise reverberated across the green.
The 22-year-old continued with his swing but hit the ball fat, and he reacted in disgust when it stopped barely halfway to the hole.
“That’s absolutely why I missed it,” said Rahm. “I lost focus with my head, chunked it and left it short.
“For that to happen is just unfortunate. I understand if I miss the shot, but if something in a moment that is so quiet happens it makes it feel a little worse because it is something that I can’t control. “It feels so bad because of all the work I did on the back nine to come from five down to have a chance. “There are a lot of positives to take out of this week so I’ll be sad for a couple of minutes but then I’ll be fine. I’m really proud of what I did, it was a great week.”
Johnson and Tiger Woods are the only players with five or more WGC titles and although Woods won an incredible 18, he failed to collect the HSBC Champions trophy in his two appearances.
Johnson, who has a healthy lead in average points over the chasing pack in the world rankings, and is favourite to win a second Major at the Masters next week, added: “This was a tough match against Jon.
“I gave him 10 when I threeputted but that was about the only hole I gave him, he played tough. He’s going to be a great player out here for a long time.
“I’ve got a lot of confidence in the game right now, feel like I am driving the ball great, I’m wedging it well. I can work on the mid-irons a bit but we can work on those next week after I take a couple of days off.
“Being the No1 player in the world drives me to work harder and to get better. There’s still a lot of room for improvement, so I’m going to keep working on it.”
America’s Bill Haas beat Tanihara 2&1 in the third-place play-off, although Tanihara had the thrill of making a hole-in-one on the seventh.