Irmo’s Dustin Johnson opens 2018 with PGA Tournament victory
A new year, same old dominant Dustin Johnson.
The Irmo native won the Sentry Tournament of Champions at Kapalua Plantation Course by a dominant margin over a field that included the top five players in the World Golf Ranking.
The final round by the top-ranked player in the world was an 8-under that included seven birdies, one eagle and a bogey. He finished the tournament at 24-under, eight strokes ahead of runner up John Rahm.
“I knew I was playing well, and it’s a golf course I’m really comfortable on,” Johnson said. “I was really driving it well this week. I knew as long as I could keep doing that, I was going to do well.”
In 2017, Johnson won four events, and Sunday marked the 17th victory of his career. He was consistent and impressive through all four rounds, shooting 69-68-66-65–268.
His eight-shot margin of victory was his largest ever, and it was one short of the tournament record set by David Duval since this event moved to Kapalua in 1999. Jordan Spieth also won by eight shots in 2016.
Johnson dominated at the start of last season, winning three events in a row heading into the Masters in April. A freak accident knocked him out of the year’s first major before play started.
Prior to the Masters, Johnson won the Dell Technologies Match Play, the Genesis Open at Riviera Country Club and the WGC Mexico Championship. In August, he won the Northern Trust Open Sunday in the FedEx Cup Playoffs.
Johnson’s ascent in the rankings has been steady, highlighted by winning the 2016 U.S. Open, the first major tournament victory of his career. In a decade-long PGA Tour career, Johnson has won at least one tournament every year since his rookie season.
Besides the U.S. Open, in 2016 Johnson won the WGC-Bridgestone (a World Golf Championship event) and the BMW Championship, part of the Tour’s FedEx Cup playoffs. In total, he cashed checks for more than $9 million, best in professional golf, while leading the Tour in scoring average and top-10 finishes.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
This story was originally published January 7, 2018 at 9:51 PM with the headline "Irmo’s Dustin Johnson opens 2018 with PGA Tournament victory."