FedEx Cup: Dustin Johnson finishes off dominant performance
By Tim Letcher
Dustin Johnson won the Tour Championship on Monday to finish off a truly dominant playoff run and to win his first FedEx Cup.
From the very beginning of the 2020 FedEx Cup playoffs, Dustin Johnson was the best player. And on Monday, he finished what he started, winning the Tour Championship and the FedEx Cup in a dominating performance that left a number of the world’s best players in his dust.
Johnson’s season certainly had its ups and downs, especially since the tour resumed play in June. In the first tournament back, DJ missed the cut at the Charles Schwab Challenge. The following week, he tied for 17th at the RBC Heritage. Then, he won at the Travelers Championship.
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After taking a couple of weeks off, DJ returned, but not in a strong manner. Playing at the Memorial Tournament, DJ shot 80-80 to miss the cut by a long shot. The next week at the 3M Open, Johnson shot 78 in the first round, then withdrew. At that point, no one knew what to expect from DJ going forward.
What people saw was a resurgence. Johnson finished in a tie for 12th at the WGC-FedEx St. Jude Invitational before starting what would be a dominant stretch of golf.
That began at Harding Park in San Francisco, where DJ finished in a tie for second behind Collin Morikawa. Then, in the first round of the playoffs, DJ crushed the field, shooting 30-under par for the week and winning by an amazing 11 shots.
In last week’s BMW Championship, DJ held the lead, only to see Jon Rahm rally to pass him near the end of the event. However, Johnson holed a 40-foot birdie putt on the 72nd hole to force a playoff. On the first extra hole, Rahm made a 66-foot birdie putt to win, leaving DJ in second alone.
This week, Johnson entered the tournament with a two-shot lead over Rahm, and a bigger lead over everyone else. And he did nothing to give that lead up, even when Rahm caught him on Friday.
Next. Winners and losers from 2020 Tour Championship. dark
Johnson shot 67-70-64-68 to win by three shots over Justin Thomas and Xander Schuffele, claiming his 23rd PGA Tour title and his first career FedEx Cup. His previous best finish in the FedEx Cup standings was when he finished second in 2016.
DJ was almost unmatched in the playoffs in a dominating performance. If not for a miracle putt by Rahm, he probably would have won all three playoff events while facing most of the world’s best players in an extremely competitive environment. That’s dominating in a way that’s rarely seen on tour.