Johnson is World No. 1

LOS ANGELES — The only question about Dustin Johnson going to No. 1 in the world is: What took so long?

The talent was never an issue.

Jordan Spieth once referred to Johnson as “a freak athlete,” a term rarely heard in golf. Pat Perez was partly in awe and partly exasperated Sunday as he stood behind the 10th green during the final round at Riviera and said, “The guy hits it 40 yards by me, hits his short irons great and makes 30-foot putts. What do you do?” Crown him. Finally. Johnson looked like a world-beater against the strongest field of the year at the Genesis Open. He went 49 consecutive holes without a bogey. During the third round Sunday morning, when he shot a 7-under 64 and built a five-shot lead, his two longest par putts were from 4 feet. On the 606yard 17th hole in the second round, on a day when no one could get it back to the flag, Johnson went over the green.

With his five-shot victory, he became the 20th player since the world ranking began in 1986 to reach No. 1.

And it never crossed his mind.

Neither did the 72hole scoring record at Riviera, set in 1985 by Lanny Wadkins at 20-under 264, making it the oldest such record on the PGA Tour schedule. Johnson didn’t even know what the record was, nor did he care. He was at 20 under after making his 21st birdie of the week at the par-3 sixth, played it safe from there with a big lead and closed with three meaningless bogeys for a 71.

“Winning the golf tournament ... that’s what I was here to do,” Johnson said.