A LATE EAGLE PROPELLED DUSTIN JOHNSON to victory at the WGC-HSBC Champions in Shanghai on Sunday. The long-hitting American fired a closing 66 to hold off defending champion Ian Poulter (66) and U.S. Open champion Graeme McDowell (66). The winning margin was three strokes.
Dustin Johnson -24 (69-63-66-66-264)
Ian Poulter -21 (71-67-63-66-267)
Graeme McDowell -20 (69-69-64-66-268)
“It’s the biggest win I’ve had in my career so far,” Johnson said. “Those guys put a lot of pressure on me. I’m really proud of the way I handled myself.”
Playing partner McDowell was impressed.
“[Johnson] trenches one 350 down the middle and has the hands to that 70-yard shot to the front pin and make the putt. He’s just a quality, talented, very athletic, classy player. Yeah, he makes mistakes. But when you’ve got a game as good as him, you can get away with a few mistakes. He’s just got a great wedge game to go with just an outrageously good driving game.”
Johnson’s eighth PGA Tour title moves him to No. 12 in the Official World Golf Ranking. DJ’s Shanghai win was noteworthy for another reason.
“It’s the first time in WGC history that American golfers have won all four WGC tournaments in the same season,” reported Golfweek’s Alistair Tait.
To recap the 2013 WGCs, Matt Kuchar won the Accenture Match Play Championship, Tiger Woods claimed the Cadillac Championship and Bridgestone Invitational, and now Johnson has captured the HSBC Champions.
This is indeed a great news! One of my next Florida golf vacations will include watching an actual golf match.