Rose punishes Johnson’s collapse
Justin Rose produced a brilliant finish to take advantage of a dramatic collapse from world No 1 Dustin Johnson to win the WGCHSBC Champions in Shanghai.
Rose began the final round eight shots behind Johnson and was still six adrift at the turn, but carded five birdies in a back nine of 31 to complete a closing 67, with Johnson slumping to a 77.
At 14 under par, Rose finished two shots ahead of Ryder Cup partner Henrik Stenson, Brooks Koepka and Johnson, who had started the day with a six-shot lead in pursuit of a record third World Golf Championship victory this year.
Rose’s second WGC title lifts him from 13th place in the world to sixth, with Koepka and Stenson seventh and eighth, pushing the absent Rory Mcilroy down to ninth.
“It’s unbelievable,” said Rose, who has risen to third in the Race to Dubai with three events remaining. “It’s been a long time since I’ve won, or at least it feels like that. I’ve won every year since 2010, if you include the Olympics last year. I’ve left it late this year, but it feels amazing.”
Johnson bogeyed the first two holes and dropped further shots on the 12th, 15th and 16th to join Greg Norman, Sergio Garcia and Spencer Levin as the only men since 1996 to lead a PGA Tour event by six shots with a round to play and fail to win.
The former US Open champion said: “I didn’t make any putts. Just nothing was going in the hole.”