Mcilroy praises President Trump’s game after round
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Meanwhile, Dustin Johnson is the world No 1 for the first time after winning the Genesis Open. The US Open champion took the lead in the second round and never relinquished it, ending the weekend 17 under par and winning by five shots at Riviera Country Club.
Johnson, right, needed to win and hope Jason Day finished lower than a three-way tie for third to top the rankings – and the outgoing No 1 could only manage a tie for 64th after finishing two over par.
The leaders had to complete two rounds on Sunday, following storms on Friday.
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Johnson took to the course on day four with a one-shot lead but was six strokes clear after the third round.
The 32-year-old started with a birdie on the first and picked up further shots on the fifth, eighth and 12th before birdieing the last three holes for a seven-under 64. That took him to 17 under for the tournament – equalling the 54-hole record. The 72-hole record of 20 under was well within his sights after he gained shots on the first, second and sixth in his final round, but a first bogey in 50 holes dropped him back to 19 under at the turn.
He also recorded back-toback bogeys on the 15th and 16th but the damage had already been done by then and he made sure of a PGA title for the tenth successive season with pars on the 17th and 18th.
Johnson told Sky Sports: “Today was a great day. I played really good all day long and I’m very happy. It’s obviously a big bonus to finally get to that No 1 spot.
“I’m very proud of myself and my whole team who have supported me. It’s going to push me to work even harder.”
Day needed something miraculous on Sunday to preserve his ranking but a fourover third round ended his hopes of a high finish. The Australian ended 19 shots back on his replacement at the top of the rankings. Defendingchampioncraig Ross led five Scots into the matchplay stages of this week’s Sanlam South African Amateur Championship.
Kirkhill’s Ross became the fourth Scottish player in the last six years to win the title 12 months ago, securing a 3&1 victory over home hope Dylan Naidoo at George Golf Club.
It was Ross who continued his form in the event after a sizzling 63 in round two to be the leading Scot in strokeplay qualifying at Humewood GC, sharing fourth place on 12 under par.
Cawder’s Calum Fyfe, Peebles’ Craig Howie, Liam Johnston (Dumfries & County) and Jamie Stewart from Old Ranfurly also progressed inside the top 64 as the Scots eye more glory.
Meanwhile, Scottish Golf has recruited Fraser Munro,aformerladieseurope an Tour tournament director, to the position of head of events. The 38-year-old will oversee the amateur governing body’s new-look events calendar for 2017 as he returns to the world of golf after a spell in banking.
Munro, a member at Kinross Golf Club, boasts 13 years’ golf industry experience working with the Ladies European Tour and the former Ladies’ Golf Union, achieving a high level of golf administration, management and rules experience.
Elsewhere, former Walker Cup player Ewen Ferguson is sitting joint fifth, three shots off the lead, after carding an opening three-under-par 69 in the Red Sea Little Venice Open, the second Alps Tour event of the season at Sokhna GC in Egypt.
Jamie Savage also broke par with a 70.