Johnson storms to No. 1 ranking
Dark clouds gathered. Thunder rumbled. Lightning flashed on the horizon. Just as unsettling was seeing Dustin Johnson in complete control of his game with a performance worthy of his return to No. 1 in the world.
He was as close to unbeatable as he has ever been.
Johnson capped his dominant week at The Northern Trust with an eight-underpar 63, finishing with a tap-in birdie in the dark following a storm delay for an 11-shot victory at the TPC Boston.
It was the largest margin of victory since Phil Mickelson won by 13 at the TPC Sugarloaf in 2006.
“The best I’ve ever seen him look,” said Claude Harmon III, his swing coach, as he stood off the 18th green that was partially illuminated by the video board that flashed the scores of this astounding feat.
Johnson hit every green in regulation Sunday, and missed only three greens over his last 54 holes.
His final 54 holes were rounds of 60-64-63.
Johnson finished at 30under 254, making him only the third player in PGA Tour history to finish at 30 under or better.
He missed the record by one shot set by Ernie Els in 2003 at Kapalua. Jordan Spieth also was 30 under at Kapalua in 2016. Johnson at least holds the record on the mainland.
“I knew I was playing well and I knew the guys were going to shoot low,” Johnson said. “I was trying to get to 30 under. I’ve never shot 30 under in four rounds. Just something that I wanted to do.”
No. 304 Popov’s f irst win is a major Sophia Popov won the Women’s British Open at Royal Troon in Scotland to become the first female German major champion, a stunning breakthrough for the 304th-ranked player in the world.
Popov had five birdies in three-under 68 to finish at seven under, two strokes ahead of Jasmine Suwannapura of Thailand.
Popov won her first professional title, and the winner’s check of $675,000 is more than six times her previous earnings.