DOMINANT DJ
Johnson shatters 72-hole course record to win The Northern Trust by 11 shots
– Dustin Johnson won in a walk.
The lanky, 36-year-old big banger from Palm Beach Gardens, Fla., shot an 8-under-par final round of 63 to capture The Northern Trust on Sunday at TPC Boston.
Johnson competed the tournament 30-under 254, shattering the old record course record of 262 (-22) shared by Henrik Stenson, Charlie Hoffman and Vijay Singh. He was 11 shots clear of runner-up Harris English and 12 better than Daniel Berger, who finished third.
The victory was Johnson’s second on a New England course this season. Johnson won the Travelers Championship on June 28 at TPC River Highlands in Cromwell, Conn.
“I jumped up the leaderboard obviously,” said Johnson. “I feel very good about my position and my game is very good right now.
“I played really solid all four days this week and got some big tournaments coming up.”
Johnson and Harris English were on 17 when play was suspended at 6 p.m. when a fierce storm hit the area. Play resumed at 7:15 p.m. and, with the last vestiges of daylight filtering through, Johnson finished with a birdie at the 18th hole. Johnson recorded 23 birdies and five eagles against just three bogeys.
Johnson opened the round with a 5-shot lead after shooting a course-record 191 after 54 holes. Johnson immediately padded his advantage with an eagle at the second.
The 532-yard, par 5, second hole is probably the most interesting layout on the track. The second doglegs hard to the right at the far end of the fairway and the green is protected by water on three sides.
The pin is devilishly located at the front end of the green just a few yards from the water. Johnson made the green in two and sank an 8-footer to go 24 under. Eleven of the 22 eagles recorded on the second hole came on Sunday.
Johnson created greater separation with consecutive birdies at Nos. 4 and 5. Johnson added birdies at Nos. 7 and 8 to make the turn at 6 under. Johnson’s score dipped lower after a birdie at the 12th, which played the hardest during the week but he birdied in thee of the four rounds.
“I felt like I was swinging it the same and striking it the same and controlling my golf ball very well,” said Johnson. “It was a lot of what I was doing and I was playing really well.
“I felt good every day and obviously I was playing good golf. I was going to the range all the time and really controlling the golf ball really well.”
The Northern Trust is the first of the three FedEx Cup playoff events that will determine the 2019-20 PGA Tour champion. Only 70 golfers will advance to this week’s BMW Championship at Olympia Field outside of Chicago and the field will be trimmed to 30 for the Tour Championship at East Lake in Atlanta.
Justin Thomas, who led the standings through the regular season with 2,458 points, finished tied for 49th and fell out of the top spot. By earning 1,500 FedEx Cup points with his victory, Johnson took over the top spot with 2,571 points and has a 92point lead on Thomas.
“This week I played some really good golf and it was a lot of fun,” said Johnson. “I’m looking forward to the rest of the FedEx playoffs and I’ve obviously got myself in really good position going into East Lake and the next week too.
“Next week is the big tournament and I’m looking forward to going and playing Olympia Fields.”
Viktor Hovland enhanced his profile and added some bigger digits to the left of the decimal point with a 5-under round of 66.
Hovland began the round at 7 under and immediately improved his standing with an eagle at the second, which featured the shot of the round. Hovland drove the ball 310 yards down the left side of the fairway and followed with a shot to the front end of the water about 92 yards from the pin.
Hovland’s approach went up and down, hit the green and rolled into the hole. Hovland complemented his eagle with five birdies to make the turn at 7-under 29. He lost two strokes off his total on the back nine.
Tiger Woods, who won at TPC Boston in 2006 and has twice been a runner-up, enjoyed his best round of the tournament, a 5-under round of 66 to finish in a tie for 58th at 6-under 278. Rory McIlroy, who for the second straight day was Woods’ playing partner and has won in Norton in 2012 and 2016, had a 69 to finish at 282 in a share of 65th place.
“I felt like I hit the ball better and I putted better,” said Woods. “Everything was cleaner and better and I just wish I could have kept the round going a little bit more.
“I had a couple of eagle looks on the front nine and it could have been one of those really low rounds. But I’ll take a 5 under.”