PACIFIC PALISADES – By the time Sunday afternoon stretched to a bit after 5 p.m., the only thing left for Dustin Johnson was to provoke a thunder clap at the 18th green.
Just as long as it didn’t bring any more immediate rain.
In single-handedly navigating the PGA Tour’s Genesis Open away from any sort of apocalyptic ending – floodwaters rose and mudslides were evident in the surrounding areas all weekend – Johnson threatened to bury the tournament’s 72-hole record before coasting in with a 17-under 267, which ended up as a five-stroke victory that wasn’t even that close.
The triumph by the 32-year-old who came close but never prevailed in 10 previous L.A. PGA stops, was also enough to boost him to No. 1 in the Official World Golf Rankings, since Jason Day was well below a fourth-or-worst finish – he was 64th.
At one point, Johnson heard chants of “Number One” as he waited on the 18th green to make his final putt and put an end to one of the exhaustive scramble weekends in the event’s history.
He looked more than relieved when he was able to pick up his 2-year-old son, Tatum, brought to the final green by his fiancee, Paulina Gretzky.
At one junction, Johnson was at 20-under par and had a string of 50 bogey-free holes between the first and fourth round. Lanny Watkins won the 1985 event with a record 20-under – which is the longest-standing 72-hole scoring record on the PGA Tour schedule.
But Johnson’s back-to-back bogeys at the 15th and 16th holes ended any threat that would go down.
“I was trying to get it to 22 (under) – I didn’t know about any scoring record,” said Johnson.
“I didn’t finish the last 10 holes as I’d like – I was on cruise control.”
Whatever the number, this was one he seemed destined to win from the start. He was just two shots back of the lead with a 5-under 66 Thursday, and, after sitting out play Friday with the rainy mess going on, he took the lead for good with another 66 Saturday afternoon.
A dominating 7-under 64 for the third round cinched it early Sunday, so that by the time he came back around at 12:15 p.m. for his final 18, an even-par 71 was more than satisfactory for the defending U.S. Open champ.
Thomas Pieters, a 25-year-old from Belgium who got in on a tournament exemption based on his winning the NCAA Tournament at Riviera in 2012 while at the University of Illinois, tied for the low-round of the week with a 8-under 63 in the final round to get himself into a tie for second place with Scott Brown at 12-under 276.
Mission Viejo’s Cameron Tringale, who played the last 36 holes in the final three-man group with Johnson and Pat Perez, could have also tied for second but a double-bogey on 18 dropped him into a tie for eighth at 10-under 274. That was a difference of a paycheck of several hundred thousand dollars.
Tour rookie Wayne Bryan, who posted a 63 in the third round, tied with Justin Rose and Kevin Na for fourth at 11-under.
Bryan, who has known Johnson going back to their high school days together, said “honestly, I’m surprised it took so long for him to get to No. 1 in the world. He’s got all the talent that you could want in a golfer. I’m super happy for him.”
Jordan Spieth, among the early leaders but finishing Sunday with a group at 6-under 278, could appreciate what Johnson accomplished.
“He’s closed big tournaments – no surprises to us players, although he’s been given a hard time for a long time about the close calls in majors. Obviously today he went out as a leader and he’s probably shooting the best cumulative score for 36 holes today, so really impressive to be doing that when you are leading the golf tournament.”
Contact the writer: thoffarth@scng.com
