Dustin Johnson capped off a dominant playoff run yesterday at the TOUR Championship in Atlanta. His TOUR Championship win was his third win of the year and helped him win his first FedEx Cup.
With the new TOUR Championship format, Dustin started his first round on Friday at ten-under par, two shots ahead of Jon Rahm. Dustin started his Friday round with three birdies in the first six holes. Bogies on seven and eight had DJ turn in 34. A slow back-nine saw DJ make eight pars and one birdie to shoot a first 68. This left him tied for the lead with Rahm.
Starting Saturday tied with Rahm, Dustin knew there was still work to be done. The theme of the round turned into missed fairways for both Rahm and Johnson. Even though he was missing fairways he was still making birdies. Another front-nine 34 had Dustin in a battle with Rahm and Sungjae Im. DJ would go on to shoot an even par 70. Heading into moving day, he was one clear of Im.
Sunday in Atlanta was when Dustin really got it going. He converted a four-foot birdie putt on the third and another on the seventh. Missing the fairway and the green on the eighth left him a tough chip. Clipping it off the tightly mown area, the ball rolled into the cup. A little finger point to his brother and DJ was three-under on the day. Four more birdies and one bogey on the back-nine gave Dustin a five-shot lead heading into the final round on Monday.
Though he had a five-shot lead heading into Monday, Dustin knew he would be tested. He birdied three of his first seven holes. For the third time this week, DJ turned in 34. With a charging Xander Schauffele and Justin Thomas, Dustin grinded out some pars and piped his drive on the 18th which led to his only birdie on the back-nine. With a three-shot victory, Dustin took home his first FedEx Cup.
Through the three FedEx Cup playoff events Dustin led the field in score related to par (-45), birdies and eagles (63), greens in regulation (76%), and strokes gained total (+3.45.) This historic play kept him at number one in the Official World Golf Rankings.
Next up for Dustin, the U.S. Open at Winged Foot.
