Dustin Johnson Wins Three-in-a-Row

Dustin Johnson Wins Three-in-a-Row March 26, 2017

DustinJohnson1Just minutes ago, Dustin Johnson–PGA Tour star and #1 golfer in the world–won the World Golf Championship-Dell Technologies Match Play at Austin, Texas, on the Austin Country Club golf course. In the afternoon finals match, Dustin defeated 22-year-old sensational Spaniard Jon Rahm one up on the last, eighteenth hole. It gave the long-hitting Johnson three PGA Tour victories in a row, two of them being coveted WGC events.

JonRahmIt was the dream match between these two outstanding players that golf fans wanted most in the finals. Although Jon Rahm is only in his second year on the PGA Tour, he had already placed himself fourth in Sony World Rankings. And even though Rahm got off to a bad start by allowing Johnson to be five up after eight holes, Rahm clawed his way back to make it a contest at one down with one to play.

On the 356-yard par four eighteenth hole, Rahm blasted a drive that went a whopping 382 yards, rolling straight through the middle of the green and coming to rest a few yards over it. Johnson played a safe iron off the tee, but wedged to the front fringe of the green, leaving himself about about 25 feet to the hole for his birdie try. Rahm had a downhill pitch from about 60 feet for his second shot. His pitch barely lacked clearing the ledge on the middle of the green and rolling down close to the hole. Thus, he left himself an extremely difficult 15-20 foot putt with a lot of break right-to-left. It was one of those putts that even the touring pros won’t make probably more than 1 out of maybe 20-30 tries. After Johnson putted up about two feet from the hole, Rahm tried his soft stroke that barely missed the hole, leaving himself a four foot putt for par, which he made. Johnson then tapped in his short putt for the victory. One can only imagine what might have happened if Rahm’s drive would have stopped on the green.

The television announcers repeatedly remarked how fearless is the young Jon Rahm, who attended school here where I live, at Arizona State University. An example is how he played the thirteenth hole in this finals match, when he was three down to Johnson. That hole is a 294-yard par four, with its tiny green elevated with pilings next to a lake on the left side and somewhat in front of the green. The pin location was on the front-left side of the green, leaving only a few feet to spare between the front-left edge of the green and the hole. With the wind howling, Rahm crushed his drive and the ball climbed in elevation, helping it to stop on landing. The ball landed on the perfect spot, on the front edge of the green, just over the water, bounced, and almost hit the pin. The ball stopped on the back portion of the green, leaving Jon with an eagle putt.

(The day before, on Saturday, Zach Johnson hit the same drive on that hole to a similar pin position. His ball landed similarly and actually hit the pin and stayed on the green for an even closer eagle putt.)

Dustin Johnson has now won fourteen PGA Tour tournaments, with one being a major–the 2016 U.S. Open. He is without a doubt the favorite going into the Masters in two weeks. The slender, 6′, 2″, slow-walking, dark bearded Johnson–whom the media has dubbed a Hollywood, gunslinger look-a-like–now has all of the components of his golf game working together like a well-oiled machine. And with his lengthy backswing, and effortless-looking forward swing, Dustin dusts his ball with his driver such prodigious distances off the tee that it gives other pros nightmares. But the up-and-coming, young, superstar Jon Rahm is not so far behind. And he has some of that Spanish charisma that reminds you of the  swashbuckling Seve Ballesteros. The 6′, 2″, 220 lbs. Jon Rahm will be a favorite at the Masters, too.

Professional golf has really got some long-hitting, great players that make the game fun to watch for the fans.

 


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