Johnson is No. 1 in the world and playing like it, too
Print Edition
The Mexico Championship put on quite a show in its debut as a World Golf Championships event.
So did Dustin Johnson.
In his first tournament as No. 1 in the world, the American gave every indication that he planned on staying at the top for a while.
Even during a week when everything seemed to go wrong — from a tee shot into the hedges and out-of-bounds to a shot that got stuck in a tree to the eight putts he missed from inside 5 feet — Johnson had enough resolve to hold off one last challenge and win the Mexico Championship in Mexico City.
It was his fourth WGC title.
He became the fifth player to win in his debut atop the world ranking.
The number that mattered was No. 1.
“My first week playing as No. 1, there’s obviously a little bit extra pressure, a lot of limelight on me,” he said after closing with a 3-under 68 for a one-shot victory over Tommy Fleetwood of England. “So to come out and win, it means a lot.”
It took more work at the end than he would have imagined.
What was supposed to be a riveting battle among some of the biggest names in golf turned into a one-man show. Johnson needed only a 31 on the front nine to dispatch of Justin Thomas, Rory McIlroy and Phil Mickelson.
He started the final round one shot out of the lead. He made the turn with a four-shot lead. And then it was gone.
“Around here, anything can happen,” Johnson said.
Jon Rahm, the 22-year-old rookie from Spain, rolled in an eagle and two birdies during a five-hole stretch on the back nine and took the lead when Johnson three-putted from 25 feet for bogey and then took another bogey from the bunker.
Johnson, however, is beyond the point where he expects something to go wrong. He kept his poise and regained a share of the lead with a birdie at the 15th, and then he allowed Rahm to make the mistakes.
The Spaniard had gone 59 holes without a three-putt, and then made two in a row to fall out of the mix. Johnson still wasn’t in the clear. Leading by one shot over Fleetwood, who capped off his 66 with a 40-foot birdie putt on the last hole, Johnson hit a three-quarter shot out of the bunker from 127 yards away to the middle of the green for a two-putt par and a one-shot victory.
And yes, he’s still No. 1.
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