A year at No 1 puts Johnson in good company

NO DOUBT Tiger Woods and Rory McIlroy will hog the headlines as the PGA Tour heads to Hollywood this week and a glamorous pitstop at Riviera, situated along Sunset Boulevard. But the tournament in question, the Genesis Open, will also see Dustin Johnson register a notable landmark. It was at this event a year ago that Johnson blitzed the field to become world No 1 for the first time. We wondered how he would handle it given that it had proven a poisoned chalice for the likes of Martin Kaymer and Jason Day but the 33-year-old embraced the mantle, and he has now held the post for 52 weeks. Johnson is the 20th player to hold the position since the rankings began in 1986 but the only others to retain the spot unbroken for a year or more are Greg Norman, Sir Nick Faldo, Tiger Woods and McIlroy. That’s heady company to keep. Johnson will be defending titles at his next three tournaments, as he also puts two WGC titles on the line next month, beginning with the Mexico Championship and then the World Match Play in Austin, Texas. Next stop after that: Augusta. Not far away now, is it?