To explain how he could go from winless over 15 months to looking as though he can’t be beat is to return to Johnson’s world of simplicity. Eventually, he cradled his son with whom he shared a boys’ weekend as mother Paulina Gretzky flew home on Friday morning, Johnson said. I was thinking that Johnson really had to start capitalizing on his opportunities at the majors to avoid the stigma that stuck with Norman during his career.
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He never did get it rolling Sunday, opening his final round with a bogey and finishing at 5-over 75 and in a tie for 16th place at Firestone Country Club (South) in Akron, Ohio.
Outside of glimpses of Stuard shown while CBS aired playing opponent David Lingmerth’s shots, the Jackson native and Napoleon High School graduate was rarely mentioned and never shown swinging a golf club despite starting the day in solo fourth. Key to his game was decided late previous year to go to a fade off the tee instead of the draw he has leaned on for most of his career. I’m also making the putts I’m supposed to make. I just haven’t been putting quite as well as I’d like.
Johnson toured the front side in 33 and applied pressure on Day with birdies at Nos.
Johnson was three shots behind when he rolled in a 15-foot birdie putt on the 13th hole, and followed with a wedge into 8 feet for birdie on the next hole.
The world No1 can probably count himself a little unlucky with the first of those and I don’t think the collapse will affect him too much in the long term; after all, he was still tied for third. His recovery shot went through the fairway and into the right rough and his third shot found the pond guarding the green, for a double-bogey.
“Kind of made a mess of it”, Day said.
“Disappointed, but I’ve got to try and focus on what I did great this week, move on, and try and get better for the next one”, Day said.
Scott Piercy, runner-up at the U.S. Open, ultimately finished second after birdieing the final hole to get to five under. “Each day got a little better, which was what I told y’all I wanted to do from the start”.
Day’s charitable contribution included his playing the final four holes in four-over par.
Day’s demise dropped him into a tie for third with among others Jordan Spieth- the 22-year-old’s best ever WGC finish- and American Matt Kuchar, whose 66 was only beaten by Open Champion Zach Johnson’s 65 for round of the day.
Johnson joined Tiger Woods as the only players to capture three of the four World Golf Championships.
Johnson, who won his third World Golf Championship, did his part.
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Both Johnson and Spieth (who finished T3 at the WGC Bridgestone) have now also secured their spots on the American Ryder Cup team, according to a tweet posted this morning by Team USA. It’s not just getting there, you want to stay there.
