Dustin Johnson pulls away for 3rd win of season
Top-ranked Dustin Johnson pulled away Sunday in the RBC Canadian Open at Oakville, Ontario, for his third victory of the season and 19th on the PGA Tour.
Tied for the thirdround lead with Kevin Tway, Byeong Hun An and Whee Kim, Johnson shot a 6-under-par 66 for a three-stroke victory over Kim and An. Johnson finished at 23-under 265, winning at Glen Abbey after finishing second in 2013 and 2016 — and a week after missing the cut in the British Open.
“Even after the missed cut last week, I felt like I was hitting it fine,” Johnson said. “I just did not score very well at Carnoustie at all. I didn’t putt good. I just scored really badly. But I felt like I hit the ball plenty good enough to be under par after two days, and I was 5-over or something. It was just bad scoring.”
Johnson has an endorsement deal with title sponsor RBC, and fiancee Paulina is Wayne Gretzky’s daughter, adding to the American’s popularity in Canada.
Johnson also won at the Tournament of Champions at Kapalua in January and the FedEx St. Jude Classic in June in Memphis.
Kim and An, a Cal alum, each shot 69 in the round interrupted by a nearly two-hour lightning delay. Senior British Open: Miguel Angel Jimenez became the first Spaniard to win the Senior British Open, edging defending champion Bernhard Langer by one shot at St. Andrews, Scotland.
Jimenez dropped only one stroke en route to a final round 3-under 69 and ended at 12-under 276 at the historic Old Course.
Jimenez was following in famous footsteps as the second Spaniard to win at St. Andrews after Seve Ballesteros won the British Open in 1984.
“This is the place where everyone wants to win and the place where Seve won his second British Open,” Jimenez said. “It has always been my ambition to win here. It feels like I am part of history.”
Jimenez, 54, played the sort of round every professional golfer dreams of on the final day at St. Andrews, and often in unpleasant — occasionally vicious — weather conditions.
Langer shot a 68 to come second. Americans Kirk Triplett (69) and Scott McCarron (68) tied for third alongside Canada’s Stephen Ames (69). All three were 10-under.
Jimenez won the Regions Tradition in May, holding off Steve Stricker for his first senior major title. LPGA Tour: Thailand’s Ariya Jutanugarn had six birdies in a final-round 5-under 66 to win the Ladies Scottish Open in Gullane by one shot.
Jutanugarn, 22, held off the challenge of Australian Minjee Lee to claim her 10th LPGA title and third this year.
Jutanugarn finished at 13-under 271 and is projected to top the world rankings, ahead of South Koreans Inbee Park and Sung Hyun Park. Jutanugarn last held the No. 1 spot for two weeks in June 2017— the first Thai golfer to top the rankings. European Tour: Richard McEvoy, 39, won his first European Tour title at the age of 39 after a big finish in Hamburg, Germany.
The Englishman holed a 20-foot putt for birdie on the last hole to secure a one-shot victory ahead of Renato Paratore, Christofer Blomstrand and German amateur Allen John. McEvoy shot a finalround 1-over 73 to finish at 11-under 277. He won in his 285th European Tour appearance, 17 years after making his debut on the tour and just seven days after triumphing on the developmental European Challenge Tour.
Masters champion Patrick Reed ended tied for ninth after a 76.