AKRON, Ohio – Dustin Johnson’s best save of the WGC-Bridgestone Invitational came about 20 minutes after he’d finished his final round. It’s completely different than what we do here.
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First, there is the matter of two upcoming majors – British Open and PGA Championship – in a three-tournament stretch, and Johnson has emerged as the favorite at courses – Royal Troon and Baltusrol, respectively – that should fit his game.
When asked if it was his choice or a recommendation from his coaches, Johnson said he wanted to make the change and his coaches didn’t really care which shape he hit the driver “as long as I hit it straight”.
Day, who has won three times this season, fought his swing all day but scrambled for a 69, sinking a 35-foot birdie putt on the 15th hole after falling back with two bogeys late on the first nine. For other players, these alterations might take months, even a year, while being closely monitored by instructors offering seemingly critical feedback. It came up short and rode the collar of the bank into the water, leading to double bogey.
He tied for third with Jordan Spieth, Matt Kuchar and Kevin Chappell at 3 under.
“It’s disappointing to not get the win here, but I feel like it’s coming around nicely”. He co-led with World No. 1 Jason Day on 5-under after opening in 69-69-70, three clear of Johnson who was T5 on 2-under and shot 66.
Johnson’s back-to-back triumphs earned him $3.4m but, perhaps more pertinently, he has upstaged Spieth as the player closest to the world No1, Jason Day.
“Today we both kind of drove it all over the place and I managed it pretty well”, Piercy said.
McIlroy started the round two shots behind Jaidee, but bogeyed No. 3 and made his only birdie on No. 14.
Then, he tried to squeeze a shot from 200 yards around the pond.
On No. 16, Piercy had an 18-foot putt for birdie that would have tied Johnson, but Piercy’s effort missed by an inch. “I feel like my game is where it has been all year”.
RENO, Nev. – Greg Chalmers won the Barracuda Championship at Montreux for his first PGA Tour title, eagling the final hole for a six-point victory in the modified Stableford scoring event. “I talked about driving the ball well, and I didn’t”. That’s the big difference in me finishing in a lot of top fives to winning a few.
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Whatever the combination, it’s led to two weeks that have made Johnson a tough player to beat. “But the recovery is going super good and this is my first time that I’m playing without pain in nearly a year and a half so it’s a different experience”. “But the last couple of weeks I’ve just putted a little bit better”. “But [Tatum] is most important, and whether I shoot a good score or a bad score, when I see him, it doesn’t matter”. It’s just I haven’t been putting quite as well as I’d like to.
