Dustin Johnson claims World No 1 title
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Dustin Johnson has replaced Jason Day as the World No.1 after he produced a convincing five-shot victory to win the Genesis Open at Riviera Country Club.
Difficult weather conditions cancelled most of Friday’s rounds and left the leaders with 36 holes to complete on the final day, yet an undeterred Johnson carded rounds of 67-67-64 to go six shots clear with 18 holes to go.
The US Open champion immediately went on to extend his lead with back-to-back birdies on the opening two holes of the fourth round, and by the sixth he had already reached the tournament record of 20-under-par.
The 32-year-old was chased by a pack that included Thomas Pieters, Wesley Bryan and Justin Rose, but Johnson remained untouched for the entirety of Sunday despite three blemishes and a final round of 71.
It came as little surprise to many DJ finished top of the Genesis Open leaderboard given his history with the tournament (finishing in the top 10 in six of his last nine starts) but his 13th PGA Tour victory came with the added bonus of ending Jason Day’s 47 week run at the top of the world.
“It sounds good,” Johnson said about becoming the best player in the world. “I played really great all day. I couldn’t have driven it any better. That was a big key.”
“To finally get a win at the Genesis Open feels good because I’ve finished second here a couple times, lost in a playoff, felt like I should have won a couple other times”
“Made a couple bogeys coming down the stretch, but those were more playing a little too safe maybe. I knew I had a big lead, so as long as I didn’t make any drastic mistake, I was going to be just fine”
Equipment changes which included switching from the Taylormade M2 to the M1 made all the difference for the American this week.
“It was brand new and I really drove it very well. I think that was the big key for me this week.”
With this win DJ becomes the 20th player to hold the number one spot one since the rankings began, while also continuing own impressive run of 10 consecutive seasons with a PGA Tour victory. This is the longest active run, behind only Arnold Palmer and Jack Nicklaus (17) and Tiger Woods (14).
In the bag of Dustin Johnson
Driver: Taylormade ’17 M1 40, 11 degrees
Wood: Taylormade ’17 M1 HL, 16 degrees
Irons: Taylormade UDi (2), Taylormade Tour Preferred MB ’14 (3-PW)
Wedges: Taylormade milled grind 52 degrees, 60 degrees
Putter: Taylormade Spider Tour Black
Ball: TP5x
