Dustin Johnson hits his tee shot on the second hole in the final round of the BMW Championship golf tournament at Crooked Stick Golf Club in Carmel, Ind., Sunday, Sept. 11, 2016. There were three holes left for Johnson to try and snag his third win of the season in addition to his U.S. Open and Bridgestone Invitational titles.
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“I’ve got a lot of confidence in every part of my game right now”, he said.
Johnson had a shaky track record with a 54-hole lead (he was 2 of 6), and he opened with a pair of bogeys in his first three holes to drop into a share of the lead.
Dustin Johnson produced a supremely solid display to win the BMW Championship by three shots over England’s Paul Casey and move to the top of the FedEx Cup standings. But his finish was good enough to make Johnson the likely front-runner in the final leg of the FedExCup, the Tour Championship in Atlanta in two weeks. Bubba Watson had to settle for a 72, while Rickie Fowler shot 71 and was tied for 59th.
Rory McIlroy, who won the Deutsche Bank Championship, is in sixth, while defending FedEx Cup champion Jordan Spieth is seventh.
Johnson remained steady from that point to close out the tournament and move to the top of the FedEx Cup standings. Fowler won’t have another chance to audition, though he might get picked on Monday, anyway.
“I’m seeing the lines pretty well out here”. Holmes would have been eliminated with a bogey.
It seems no matter what play – magnificent or miserable – that Johnson makes on the course, he remains quiet and unassuming and, he says, that might just be his secret weapon. I guess the only worse thing that could have happened is if I made that par putt on the last hole. That certainly can’t hurt Watson’s campaign for a spot on the American Ryder Cup team (play begins September 30 at Hazeltine in Minnesota).
Englishman Casey also shot 67 for second place at 20 under, his second consecutive runner-up finish, with American Roberto Castro (67) another three shots back in third place. Instead, Johnson smashes a 330-yard power cut that keeps him in play – and ahead of his playing competitors. He dialed in his wedges earlier this year, and is now among the best. “And this week the putter really worked”.
The eagle, at the par-5 15th was the death blow. He was at No. 24 and chose not to play this week to rest his knee for the Ryder Cup.
World number one Jason Day withdrew from the final round of the BMW Championship on Sunday due to a back injury. Back in March, Day hobbled off the course after tweaking his back, but managed to return the following day. The world’s No. 1 player barely made it through the opening round when his back locked up on him and he considered pulling out. It wasn’t my best ball-striking day.
Charl Schwartzel closed with a 64 and got the 30th spot to advance to the FedEx Cup finale at the Tour Championship. Johnson, meanwhile, also leads the tour in scoring average, top 10s, and earnings.
Day went straight for treatment.
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“I’m not going to change anything”, he said. Castro is hanging onto the leaders but a third-round 73 did him no favours as he struggled to go toe-to-toe with his top-class threeball partners.
