Match Play title delight for Johnson
World number one Dustin Johnson overcame spirited resistance from Spain’s Jon Rahm to make history by winning the WGC-Dell Technologies Match Play, his third tournament victory in succession.
Johnson became the first player to have won all four World Golf Championship events by beating Rahm by one hole in a dramatic final at Austin Country Club last night.
The 32-year-old never trailed at any point in his seven matches and was only taken beyond the 16th hole for the first time in a hard-fought semi-final victory over Japan’s Hideto Tanihara.
But he was also made to work hard to secure the first prize of £1.3million in the final as Rahm, who was trying to become the youngest winner of a WGC event, fought back from five down after eight holes to take the contest to the 18th.
Johnson, who is favourite to win a second major title in the upcoming Masters at Augusta, added: “This was a tough one, 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 a great player, 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.”
Rahm appeared to have been distracted by a noise from the crowd as he hit his second shot on 18, saying: “It’s not an easy chip but I could have had a 12-footer for birdie and maybe win the hole.
“For something like that to happen is really unfortunate. I understand if I miss the shot, but if something in a moment that’s so quiet happens it makes it feel a little worse because it’s 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 almost have a chance.
“It’s 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.
“I’m thrilled I’m going to have a chance to maybe play in the Ryder Cup. It’s just the beginning of the season so it’s all good to come.”
Bill Haas beat Tanihara 2&1 in the third-place play-off, although Tanihara had made a hole-in-one on the seventh.