Johnson wins Vegas in windy, chilly conditions
LAS VEGAS, Nev. — Dustin Johnson won LIV Golf Las Vegas on Saturday in windy and chilly conditions for his third victory on the Saudi-funded tour, pulling ahead with a birdie on No. 17 and closing with a par to edge Peter Uihlein and Talor Gooch by a stroke.
Johnson shot a 1-under 69 to finish at 12-under 198 at Las Vegas Country Club, breaking out of a late six-way tie on another day with the temperature barely climbing into the 50s in the shadow of the Super Bowl.
Johnson opened with a birdie on the par-5 first, then dropped back with bogeys on Nos. 6, 9 and 11.
“Tough day. Got off to a little bit of a rocky start,” Johnson said. “I was hitting really good shots, they were just ending up in poor spots. I was hitting the shots I wanted to, I just was not playing the wind right.”
The two-time major champion rallied with birdies on Nos. 13, 15 and 17 — holing a 12-footer on the par-4 17th — and made the par save on the par-4 18th for the victory, hitting to 12 feet from the rough and two-putting.
“I was struggling with the putter a lot and then this year the first two events I’ve putted quite nicely, just making all the putts I need to make,” Johnson said. “Like the one on 17, obviously, was a clutch putt that I needed to make there if I wanted to take a one-shot lead.”
Gooch shot a 67, and Uihlein finished with a 68.
Gooch lost three strokes in two holes with a bogey on No. 9 and a double bogey on No. 10, then birdied Nos. 14, 16 and 17 and 1.
“I actually didn’t hit it that great today, but I made a few putts out there, so the putter got hot at the right time,” Gooch said.
Uihlein bogeyed 16 and birdied 17.
“I hit it all over the shop,” Uihlein said. “It was hard. It was a grind. Putter bailed me out a lot. Short game bailed me out.’
The 39-year-old Johnson has won in each of LIV’s first three seasons, taking playoffs in Boston in September 2022 and Tulsa, Okla., last May.
He won 24 times on the PGA Tour.