Rahm’s thrilling putt wins BMW Championship
With so few people around, Jon Rahm still got word from the other side of the Olympia Fields clubhouse that Dustin Johnson had made a 45-foot birdie on the final hole to force a playoff Sunday in the BMW Championship in Olympia Fields, Illinois.
Resilient as ever, Rahm went out and made some magic of his own.
From one end of the 18th green to the other, Rahm’s putt from just over 65 feet rolled down the ridge and into the cup, setting off a roar so loud it nearly made up for not having spectators.
“I knew how good DJ has been playing. I was expecting nothing else,” Rahm said. “I was fully confident it was going to come into a playoff and hoping to win it. Never did I think I would make another 50-, 60-footer, a couple of breaks in there, to end up winning it.”
Johnson could only laugh at his birdie putt, eliciting a rare show of emotion – a slow, sweeping upper cut. And he had the same reaction to what Rahm did. What else is there to do?
“I played an unbelievable putt, got in the playoff and then Jon made an even more ridiculous putt on top of me,” Johnson said,
Rahm tore through the back nine on his way to a 6-under 64,, to finish at 4under 276.
Johnson, a 54-hole leader for his third straight tournament, birdied three of his opening four holes to open a three-shot lead, dropped a pair of shots around the turn and then delivered in the clutch with his 45-foot birdie putt.
LPGA: Austin Ernst rallied to win the Walmart NW Arkansas Championship on Sunday for her second LPGA Tour title, closing with an 8-under 63 for a twostroke victory over Anna Nordqvist in Rogers, Arkansas.
Four strokes behind Nordqvist, Ernst had the best score of the day, making 10 birdies and two bogeys.