The Middletown Press (Middletown, CT)
Dustin Johnson wins Travelers
Johnson hangs on down stretch to take home title
Dustin Johnson shot a final-round 67 to win the Travelers Championship on Sunday in Cromwell.
Just when you thought it would be a stroll to victory for Dustin Johnson, TPC River Highlands stood some ground late Sunday.
The 72-hole tournament scoring record at the Travelers Championship was in jeopardy of being broken with the way Johnson was playing. He held a 3-shot lead standing on the 13th tee.
And while Johnson never did lose the lead, he did make things interesting with one drive out of bounds, another nearly in the water, and a third tee shot into a bunker. An hour-long weather delay added to the drama, delaying the conclusion of what will be long remembered as the Travelers Championship with no spectators.
Johnson parred the final two holes to shoot 67 to win the Travelers Championship by one shot over Kevin Streelman. Johnson finished at 19-under 261.
“I put in a lot of good work the last couple weeks after Colonial (Charles Schwab Challenge), and so it’s nice to see the game just
start coming around,” Johnson said. “Yeah, it was definitely strange playing with no fans, but you still can feel the pressure, you still can feel how important a golf tournament it is, and you’re coming down the stretch, to me it felt the same, whether it was a million fans or zero. But it was strange not seeing a whole bunch of people around the 18th green.”
It is Johnson’s 21st victory on the PGA Tour, winning for the 13th consecutive season. There are only three golfers who did it for longer periods: Arnold Palmer, Jack Nicklaus and Tiger Woods.
“You’ve got to feel good about that because they’re the best that’s ever played this game,” Johnson said. “Anytime your name is mentioned in the same sentence with them, I’m very happy.”
It was Johnson’s first victory since the WGCMexico Championship on Feb. 24, 2019. Johnson is ranked sixth in the world, although that is likely to change with the new rankings released Monday morning.
Streelman, who still holds the PGA Tour record by birdieing his final seven holes to win the 2014 Travelers Championship, just missed chances for birdie on both 17 and 18 to have a chance to get into a suddendeath playoff.
“It’s a little bit disappointing. I just played beautifully,” Streelman said. “That shot on 17, I just don’t know how it didn’t come down that hill. Literally a foot left and it’s a kick-in (birdie) and maybe we’d have a chance at a playoff. But Dustin is playing beautifully. He’s obviously tough to compete with when he’s on top of his game.”
Johnson, making his first appearance at the Travelers since 2014, trailed Brendon Todd by two heading into the round. He made four birdies on the front nine, the last at No. 9 to take the lead for good. He made a 25-footer for birdie from off the green on 10 to go up by 2.
Armed with that 3-shot lead on the 13th tee, Johnson promptly hit his tee shot just out of bounds on 13. He had to make a 7-footer to salvage bogey on the par 5.
“I wasn’t driving it really good all day… I didn’t hit many fairways,” Johnson said.
Then he rallied to birdie 14 before almost hitting his tee shot on 15 into the water left. But, somehow, the ball plugged right on the edge.
“I hit a 3-hybrid very poorly. I don’t know what was going on with my tee balls today,” said Johnson, whose only major championship came at the 2016 U.S. Open.
Johnson took off his shoes and socks, rolled up his pants and hit his second shot that rolled back down the hill into the collection area. From there, Johnson was able to get up and down for par to remain up by 2 on Streelman.
The horn sounded, suspending play for almost an hour due to lightning in the area. Six players were left on the course.
The delay didn’t help. Johnson hit his tee shot on the par-3 16th into the bunker, leading to a bogey and just a 1-shot lead. He parred 17 and 18, the last after a 350-yard drive.
“I’m supposed to hit that ball right in the middle of the green and have a 30footer, but got a little greedy and tried to squeeze it over there to the flag and didn’t hit a great shot,” Johnson said. “It was just a poor shot but managed to hold it together and hit some really nice shots on 17 and 18.”
This is Streelman’s fifth top-10 finish at the Travelers.
“The way (Johnson) drove it on 18, he probably would have finished the deal anyway, but that being said, I knew I needed one more, and like I said, the one on 17 was the one I needed,” Streelman said. “That shot was so close to getting down the hill and being a kick-in. But hey, I did my best, and that’s all I can ask for.”
Todd, who was seeking his third victory of the season, continued to hit fairways but couldn’t cash in on the greens, making 11 consecutive pars to start the round.
Todd actually missed his first fairway since Thursday — at No. 7, when he just missed in the left rough. But even par at TPC River Highlands doesn’t get things done. Todd, who was seeking his third victory of the season, found himself trailing by 2 after Johnson made a 25-footer for birdie from off the green on 10.
Todd’s chances ended at No. 12. He hit his approach from the deep grass in the right-hand bunker. With an awkward stance, Todd shanked his third shot over the green. It took him three more strokes to get onto the green from there.
The resulting triplebogey 7 put him five behind Johnson. Todd ended up tied for 11th after shooting 75.
Will Gordon made good on a sponsor’s exemption given to him from the tournament this week. He fired a 64 Sunday to finish tied for third place with Mackenzie Hughes. That performance helped Gordon secure temporary membership on the PGA Tour with unlimited sponsor’s exemptions.
Rory McIlroy, the world’s No. 1 ranked player, shot 67 to finish in a tie for 11th place.
“Mentally, it’s just getting back into that tournament routine, tournament mode, and that’s why I sort of wanted a couple weeks off more than anything else,” McIlroy said. “It’s just the mental aspect of it, and especially when you are frustrated. I’ve been frustrated on the course the last three weeks, not being sort of in contention, and it sort of sucks going off in the middle of the pack on a Sunday, knowing that you don’t really have a chance.”
Phil Mickelson led at the midway point of the tournament, but managed to only go backwards from there, shooting consecutive 1-over 71s to finish in a tie for 24th place for the only player to win this event in consecutive years (2001 and 2002).
“This was a good week in a lot of areas, and I’m very optimistic going forward. I don’t think this is a one-off. I think it’s going to be the start of something really special, at least that’s what I’m sensing,” Mickelson said.
No fans were in attendance all week due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Two golfers — Cameron Champ and Denny McCarthy — tested positive during the week. An additional five golfers, including Brooks Koepka and Webb Simpson, withdrew for precautionary reasons. The PGA Tour announced Sunday night that Dylan Frittelli, who missed the cut, tested positive and will self-isolate in Connecticut.