Johnson closes on No 1 spot
ASTUNNiNG thirdround 64 before lunch yesterday took Dustin Johnson six shots clear in the Genesis Open at Riviera and within 18 holes of becoming the world No 1.
Outside Australia, it was surely the outcome most golfers were clamouring for at the end of a marathon day in which players went straight out to complete their final rounds.
No offence to Jason Day, the man Johnson was seeking to replace at the summit of the rankings and as nice as they come off the course, but the trouble is he is unwatchable on it, which is hardly a great look for any sport.
Johnson, by contrast, i s an absolute joy. People in the game can argue all they like that the ball travels too far these days but flying it 330 yards and still finding a ribbon of fairway the width of a cricket pitch remains a rare skill. No one does it like the 6ft 4in American, who is such a natural athlete he could have accepted college scholarships in American football or basketball if he hadn’t chosen golf.
What makes hi m a better ambassador for his sport than Day, though, is the pace at which he plays the game. Watch Day when he’s in contention, closing his eyes trying to picture the shot and standing for an interminable length behind the ball, and suddenly you can see the attraction of watching grass grow.
Over the same length of time, Johnson will have pulled his driver, belted it down the middle and walked 50 yards after it.
No one could think about getting to No 1, of course, with one string to his bow. Johnson has improved his wedge play considerably and when he holes putts like he did for at least three rounds at Riviera, perhaps only Rory Mcilroy in his pomp can live with him.
Johnson held a one-stroke lead at the start of play and needed to win the tournament with Day finishing worse than third. With Day going quietly after a third-round 75 to languish in a tie for 68th, it was left to Johnson to keep his end of the bargain. Before lunch, he certainly did that, looking every inch a world No 1 in the making.
He followed up two opening rounds of 66 with a still better effort, featuring three straight birdies to finish for an amazing 17-under-par total and in a position where the only thing that could stop him reaching the summit was the magnitude of the prize.
Before lunch, the only thing that disturbed him was the antics of playing partner Pat Perez, who struck not one, not two but three spectators with errant tee shots at the 12th, 13th and 15th holes, drawing blood in two instances.
Not once did he shout ‘fore!’ How arrogant can you be? Will there have to be a fatality before pros like Perez realise how dangerous a drive off line can be?
With the players allowed only a 15-minute break between rounds and no re- draw, Justin Rose was back out on the course for his fourth round before Johnson had finished his third.
The Englishman has been studying Andy Murray’s methods of recovery in a bid to end intermittent bouts of back trouble and all the ice baths he’s been having looked worth it with a wonderful third-round 65 that saw him rocket through the field.
Rose kept the good work going over his opening holes after lunch, moving into the top three after two thirds of his final round.
it’s a measure of how this had become a one-man show, that he was nine shots behind Johnson.
Meanwhile, Martin Laird slipped down the leaderboard after a thirdround 70.