Harman holds off DJ’s charge
WILMINGTON, N.C. — Dustin Johnson was in the clubhouse, tied for the lead and poised for a chance to join an elite class with a fourth straight PGA Tour victory. Brian Harman was on the last tee, knowing a birdie on the par-5 18th would be enough to win the Wells Fargo Championship.
Harman could have drawn it up differently, but not any better.
Switching from a 5-wood to a 3-wood for his 271-yard shot on the 18th, he went so long he needed relief from a corporate chalet. His next shot became harder because of tree limbs that made him go low, and his chip came out soft and barely got onto the green.
Then he rolled in a 30-foot birdie putt for a 4-under-par 68 and a one-shot victory Sunday over Johnson and Pat Perez.
“I didn’t hit a great chip. It didn’t turn out very good,” Harman said. “But I guess it went where it was supposed to.”
The greens at Eagle Point Golf Club were pure, Harman knew his putt was good when the ball was five feet from the cup. He turned and pumped his arms in a celebration that ended in a hug with his caddie, Scott Tway, for a victory that was a long time coming.
The former University of Georgia golfer won for the first time in nearly three years. His only other PGA Tour win was the John Deere Classic in July 2014.
For Johnson, playing for the first time since a freak accident knocked him out of the Masters, it was the first time in nearly three months he left a PGA Tour event without the trophy, though not because of a lack of trying. Johnson made the cut on the number, then went 67-67 on the weekend — including a 15-foot birdie putt on the final hole.
He was trying to join Jack Burke Jr., Ben Hogan, Byron Nelson and Tiger Woods as the only golfers with at least four straight PGA Tour victories.
“I didn’t have a lot of time off, so I didn’t really know what to expect this week because I didn’t really get to practice leading into this tournament, either,” Johnson said. “Not much has changed. The first couple days I didn’t play that great, but really played nicely on Saturday and Sunday.”
Perez did his part to add to the excitement, bouncing back from a double bogey on the 14th hole that took him out of the lead by making birdies on the 16th and 18th holes for a 68 he thought might be good enough for a playoff with the world’s No. 1 player and Harman.
Perez complimented Harman’s up-and-down finish and ensuing victory: “He deserves it. He played great.”
Perez moves to No. 42 in the world ranking, which makes him a lock to be exempt from U.S. Open qualifying. Harman gets back to the Masters, and he doesn’t mind having to wait 11 months for a return to Augusta National.
Jon Rahm, one of five players who had at least a share of the lead on the back nine, watched from the 18th fairway as the crowd that surrounded the hole and filled all three levels of a hospitality chalet erupted in cheers. He knew he needed an eagle — just like the one he made at Torrey Pines for his first PGA Tour victory — to force a playoff. He was posing. And it sailed over the green, leading to par and a 71 to finish alone in fourth.
Lost in Harman’s long birdie putt for the victory were two shots that led to that moment — an 8-iron from 176 yards to 3 feet on the 14th for a tap-in birdie, and the pitching wedge from 137 yards on the 17th hole to 4 feet that put him in position for the victory. In between was a threeputt from the par-3 15th that he thought would cost him.
“Knew it was going to be tough to birdie those last couple,” Harman said. “But I stuck to my game plan and just did it. Did the best I could.”
It was just enough.