Johnson coasts to top at Riviera, in rankings

Genesis Open victory by five strokes ends Day’s stint at No. 1.

Dustin Johnson went to No. 1 in the world with a world-class performance at Riviera.

Johnson turned a marathon finish into a Sunday stroll in the Genesis Open. He finished the third round in the morning with a 7-under 64 to build a five-shot lead, stretched it to nine shots in the final round and coasted home to a 71 and a five-shot victory.

“It sounds good,” Johnson said when asked about being the top player in the world. “I played really great all day. I couldn’t have driven it any better. That was a big key.”

Johnson became the 20th player to reach No. 1 since the world ranking began in 1986, ending Jason Day’s 47-week stay at the top.

Johnson won for the fourth time against some of golf ’s strongest fields dating to his U.S. Open victory last summer. All he cared about Sunday was winning at Riviera, one of his favorite courses

where he has had chances in four of the last five years.

There was no doubt this time. Johnson had a oneshot lead when he arrived Sunday at Riviera, which lost 10 hours the previous three days to fog and torrential rain. Johnson had such command of his game that his longest par putt in the third round was from 4 feet, and he closed with three straight birdies to make the final round in the afternoon more of a coronation.

Johnson went 49 straight holes without a bogey, a streak that ended on No. 9 in the final round, and he was sloppy down the stretch when it no longer mattered.

It capped off a strong stretch that elevated Johnson to the top. Not only was it his fourth victory since June, he has finished among the top three in eight of his last 16 tournaments.

“No surprise to us players, and I don’t think too much surprise to many others,” Jordan Spieth said. Spieth ended his streak of 19 consecutive rounds under par on the PGA Tour — and 27 rounds worldwide — with a 72 in the third round.

Johnson finished at 17-under 267. About the only disappointment was losing a chance to break the oldest 72-hole scoring record on the PGA Tour schedule. Lanny Wadkins won at Riviera in 1985 at 20-under 264.

Johnson reached 20 under with his 21st birdie of the week on the par-3 sixth hole. Having made only one bogey all week, he finished with three over the last 10 holes.

“I didn’t finish the last 10 holes the way I’d like to, but I had a pretty good lead. I was on cruise control,” he said.

He still had no complaints. He scooped up his 2-yearold son, Tatum, on the 18th green. Johnson’s fiancee, Paulina Gretzky, announced earlier this week they are expecting their second child.

Thomas Pieters of Belgium and Scott Brown tied in the other tournament. No one had a chance to win as soon as Johnson began the final round with two straight birdies, but Pieters closed with a 63 and Brown shot a 68 to share second place at 12-under 272.

Champions: Fred Couples won the Chubb Classic in Naples, Fla., for his 12th PGA Tour Champions title and first since 2014, rallying to beat Miguel Angel Jimenez. Couples shot a bogey-free 5-under 67 to finish at 16 under, three strokes ahead of second-round leader Jimenez. Jerry Kelly closed with a 66 in his senior debut to tie for third at 11 under with Jeff Sluman (68) and Canadian Rod Spittle (69).

Europe/Asia: Brett Rumford beat Phachara Khongwatmai of Thailand 2 and 1 in the final round of match play to claim the first World Super 6 title in Perth near where he grew up in Australia. Rumford led by five at 17-under 199 after 54 holes of stroke play in the experimental tournament sanctioned by the European, Asian and Australasian tours. Eliminations during three rounds of stroke play whittled the field down to 24 for match play Sunday.

LPGA: Ha Na Jang had an eagle and three birdies over her last six holes for a threeshot victory in the Women’s Australian Open in Adelaide. The South Korean star shot a 4-under 69 for a 10-under total to top Denmark’s Nanna Madsen of Denmark, who shot 73.