Speith holds head high after play-off loss
OLD WESTBURY: Dustin Johnson is back, and he offered a reminder of why he is world No 1 when he beat Jordan Spieth in a play-off to win the Northern Trust in Old Westbury, New York, yesterday.
Johnson sank a three-foot birdie putt at the first extra hole to edge out Spieth after a compelling head-to-head final-round duel between the two Americans at the Glen Oaks Club.
Johnson forced the play-off by sinking a sharply-breaking downhill 17-foot par putt at the final regulation hole, his ball catching the right edge of the cup and toppling in at the parfour 18th.
He overcame a five-stroke deficit over the final 13 holes for his first win since he injured his back falling down stairs on the eve of the US Masters in April.
After a quiet summer, Johnson stamped his authority with a closing 66 for 13-under-par 267 in the first of the PGA Tour’s four FedExCup play-off events.
“I feel the game’s finally back in form like it was leading into the Masters,” Johnson said in a greenside interview.
“I’m swinging everything really well, got a lot of control over the golf ball and I’m feeling really good.
“Getting a win here today gives me a lot of confidence going into next week and the rest of the play-offs.”
Johnson, who won three consecutive starts before hurting his back, joins Justin Thomas as a four-times winner on the PGA Tour this season.
He has 16 career victories, and this was his first in a play-off.
But he seemed destined for second place after leaving himself with a difficult par putt at the 72nd hole.
With Spieth sitting within tap-in range for a certain par, Johnson had to hole the putt, and he read the break and the speed to near perfection to dish out a blow to Spieth.
“I felt I played really good today,” Johnson said.
“The front nine I couldn’t hole a putt, burning the edges. Finally rolled in a couple of putts on nine and 10.”
Spieth carded 69. He and Johnson finished four shots clear of Jon Rahm and Jhonattan Vegas.
Spieth, who had earned a reputation as a closer having converted nine of his previous 10 54-hole leads into victories, appeared on the verge of a runaway win after making two birdies in the first five holes to jump five clear of Johnson.
But Spieth’s eight-iron at the par-three sixth failed to clear the water hazard guarding the green, and the subsequent double-bogey left him only three shots clear of Johnson.
Four holes later they were tied, and there was never more than a shot separating them from that point. – Reuters