• Dustin claims historic win

    Dustin Johnson
    Dustin Johnson

    Dustin Johnson produced the second-lowest 72-hole score in PGA Tour history when he won The Northern Trust by 11 shots on Sunday with an incredible 30 under par.

    Johnson proved to be simply unstoppable and made light work of the challenges presented by TPC Boston, delivering another spectacle with a final-round 63.

    An eagle on the par-five 2nd hole set the standard for what was to come as three more birdies followed before he turned for the back nine.

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    Not even a late thunderstorm could stop the dominating momentum of the American as he kicked on to one of the great Tour victories.

    Johnson managed two more birdies as he came home to conclude with an excellent eight under par for the final day.

    He finished with a staggering 11 shots ahead of second-placed Harris English, who concluded his week on 19 under par, while Daniel Berger was a further stroke back in third.

    Johnson’s strokeplay was really impressive throughout his four rounds and his accuracy ultimately propelled him to a 22nd PGA Tour crown and, more importantly, to the summit of the FedEx Cup standings with two more playoffs remaining.

    ‘I felt like I was really in control of the golf ball and I was controlling my distance really well. Hit a lot of really good iron shots,’ Johnson said.

    ‘Didn’t matter what club it was, wedges to my 3-iron, I was hitting quality golf shots. I felt I was in control over everything. Over the weekend I drove it nicely and put it in the fairway a bunch, and if I was in the fairway I felt like I could attack the golf course just because I was swinging so well with my irons. It was a really good performance this week. Definitely the best one I’ve ever had.’

    South Africa’s Louis Oosthuizen, who started the final round in fourth spot made life tough for himself and in the end struggled to get any sort of momentum going on Sunday.

    Oosthuizen had to settle for a two-over-par 73, dropping down the leaderboard to T13.

    But, as his round was coming to a close, Oosthuizen was falling out of contention to make the 70-man group in the FedEx Cup standings to qualify for next week’s second playoff at the BMW Championship.

    It meant Oosthuizen needed two birdies on the final five holes to seal his spot and after starting the back nine with bogeys on the 11th, 12th and 13th his confidence was low of achieving that feat.

    Fortunately, he recovered and managed to make birdies on the 16th and 18th holes to claim the 70th and final spot in the FedEx Cup standings.

    ‘I was very disappointed on my round today,’ said Oosthuizen afterwards.

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    ‘Honestly, I had no control over anything. It was all over the place and up until four or five holes to go, it just sort of gave myself a little bit of an opportunity, just to at least have a chance for birdies.

    ‘But it was just fight, fight. I never got down on myself. I honestly just tried to see if I can give myself a putt somewhere for birdie. I made a massive putt on 16 for birdie. At the end of the day, it’s probably most happy 73 that I’ve had in a while.’

    According to Oosthuizen, it almost felt as if he had one a tournament on the final stretch given the importance of those two late birdies.

    ‘It felt that way because everyone sort of knew what was going on, and even Scottie was going, “Come on, make a good swing” and motivating me, and everyone I walked past knew I needed birdie.’

     

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