After a great week at the Dustin Johnson World Junior presented by LA GOLF, Dustin headed to Ponte Vedra Beach, Florida for THE PLAYERS Championship. THE PLAYERS Championship was the largest purse ($20 million) professional golf had ever seen. The pressure was there. TPC Sawgrass and the weather were two very daunting tasks for everyone involved.
The energy around TPC on Thursday was palpable, but the impending weather was the main story. Dustin Johnson was supposed to tee it up early afternoon, due to the rain was pushed back to 5:15 EST. DJ came out of the gate firing birding two of his first three holes before the round was suspended. Restarting at 7:15 the next morning did not phase Dustin as he poured in a ten-footer for another birdie. One more birdie on seven and Dustin was cruising. Dustin would go on to shoot a first round 69 (-3). A quick turnaround for the second round and he was back on the course. Two early birdies were quickly erased by a double on 16, but birdied his last two holes to come in at 2-under for the tournament.
Saturday the weather became a big factor. Pushing everything back, the second round would not finish and had to be pushed to Sunday. The third round began late Sunday afternoon, guaranteeing a Monday finish. Dustin started his round one-under through his front nine. A tough back-nine that ended Monday sent DJ down the leaderboard.
Getting it back on track in the final afternoon, Dustin made the turn in two-under. The back-nine is where it got really fun. Making the turn to one Dustin rattled off three straight birdies to get to 5-under on his round. Two more birdies at six and seven had DJ looking at the course record. The par-5 9th was a three-shot hole. 67 yards to hole for his third and Dustin holes it! A back nine 29 brought him to the house with a final round 63 (-9) to tie the course record. The record setting round brought Dustin back for a T9 finish.
A long week that finished on a high note is over. Next up for DJ, the Valspar Championship.
