Cold putter no impediment as Johnson confirms world dominance with two-stroke Saudi International win
Dustin Johnson. Picture: Getty Images
Masters champion Dustin Johnson proved he’s head and shoulders above the rest when he put a poor performance on the greens behind him to win his second Saudi International powered by SoftBank Investment Advisers title in three years.
Two clear overnight, the world number one (36) struggled with the putter on slow greens at Royal Greens Golf & Country Club but still hit the ball well enough to hold off all comers and win by two strokes from perennial nearly man Tony Finau and a resurgent Justin Rose on 15-under par.
The world No 1 was ranked close to last in the field for strokes gained putting for the third time in four days, finishing the week 60th out of 76 with the blade.
Yet such was the quality of his ball-striking — he ranked 3rd for strokes gained off the tee, fourth for approach play and first from tee to green—that he had enough in the tank to close with a two-under-par 68 and win with ease.
"It was a really good week,” Johnson said after his 26th career win and just his second start since his emotional win at Augusta National last November.
“I felt like I played really solid every day. Gave myself a lot of chances. Didn't putt quite as well as I'd like to, but obviously well enough to get a victory today.”
He added: “Obviously [I was pleased] just the way I was swinging the club. I felt like I really controlled the golf ball well in some windy conditions. I drove it well. I did everything really well except for hole putts. I didn't hole a lot of putts. It was really nice and I'm very pleased and proud of winning when I wasn't completely on all cylinders as far as where everything was working well.”
Leading by two strokes overnight from French Ryder Cup hopeful Perez, Johnson made just one birdie on the front nine, a tap in at the par-five fourth when missed a five-footer for an eagle.
He turned for home just one clear of Perez, who made a 20 footer at the ninth, then missed two more chances inside ten feet at the 10th and 12th to give the field some hope.
Finau birdied three holes in a row from the 11th to tie for the lead on 14-under. But Johnson muscled a 164-yard wedge to 11 feet at the tough 13th and made the putt restore his lead.
He missed a three-footer for par at the 16th, where he bunkered his tee shot. But with Perez running up a double-bogey there and Finau finishing bogey-bogey-birdie to shoot 67 and join Rose (65) in the clubhouse lead on 13-under, he all but sealed victory by following a massive drive with a chip to two feet setting up a birdie at the short par-four 17th.
“I like to play well every week, so yeah, I approach every tournament the same,” Johnson said of his ability to peak every almost every week. “I don't try to get my game just ready for the majors. I want to be ready each and every week I play.
Time to hear the Champion's thoughts 💬#SaudiIntlGolf pic.twitter.com/2cXF2oiyKT
— The European Tour (@EuropeanTour) February 7, 2021
"It's tough to win on the European Tour, PGA TOUR, no matter what ranking you are. But yeah, obviously winning as Number One is definitely good, and obviously, it gives me a little bit more of a lead. It gives me a lot of confidence going in for the rest of the year. Obviously, we're at the beginning of the year, so pleased with how I'm playing and looking forward to the rest of the year.
"I don't get to play around the world as much as I'd like to, but yeah, it's definitely nice to get a win [not on the PGA TOUR]. After Augusta, to get my first win again, obviously, the game's still in really good form and I'm really excited about the rest of the year."
Set to reappear in next week’s Genesis Invitational at Rivera in Los Angeles, he plans to play at least four events before the Masters but admitted the still hadn’t set the menu for the Champions Dinner
“I've got some ideas but I haven't picked it out yet,” he said. “It's not going to be anything wild.”
European skipper Pádraig Harrington will be pleased to see Rose (40) rack up some Ryder Cup points and the Englishman was happy with his performance.
“That was the best golf I played in quite some time,” said Rose, who was 57th in Abu Dhabi and 35th in Dubai after a closing 77. “Nice to feel like I've come out of the three-week trip with a nice bit of positive momentum today.
“I've been working on a lot of stuff but really staying patient. I haven't been playing my best golf and easy to get frustrated. I've kind of stayed with it, even though this three-week trip, it felt like it's been slow going, and good golf hasn't been rewarded and I've made silly mistakes. Momentum hasn't quite been on my side yet. So to play a bogey-free 65 on a Sunday is something to kind of take and fuel the upcoming run.”
Finau was disappointed not to push Johnson closer but he was also encouraged by his performance.
“I knew I could put some pressure on DJ going into 16 and made a couple of bogeys unfortunately on 16 and 17,” Finau said. “But I've enjoyed my week. The golf course is good. Enjoy playing on the European Tour when I have the opportunity and when my schedule allows, and yeah, I'll definitely be back. But I think it was a positive week and one that I'll continue to grow on.
“DJ is obviously a hell of a player, favourite going into this week. And it was good going toe-to-toe with him there kind of down the stretch and I don't think it will be the last time we're going to run into each other.”
Danish teen Rasmus Hojgaard closed with an eight-under 62 to tie for sixth with Ryan Fox, Viktor Hovland and Tyrrell Hatton on 11-under.
Ardglass Cormac Sharvin finished as the best of the Irish, tied for 21st on seven-under after a two-under 68.
But Shane Lowry made just one birdie in a one-over 71, falling back to tied 29th on five-under after a below-average week on and around the greens.
Graeme McDowell made five birdies in a two-under 68 to share 66th on one-over.
Saudi International powered by SoftBank Investment Advisers, Royal Greens G&CC (Par 70)
265 D Johnson (USA) 67 64 66 68 (€475,425)
267 J Rose (Eng) 68 66 68 65, T Finau (USA) 68 65 67 67,
268 C Hill (Sco) 65 68 68 67, V Perez (Fra) 67 66 66 69,
269 R Hojgaard (Den) 70 69 68 62, R Fox (Nzl) 65 65 71 68, V Hovland (Nor) 68 66 67 68, T Hatton (Eng) 67 67 66 69,
270 T Pieters (Bel) 65 71 68 66, G Coetzee (RSA) 66 70 65 69,
271 S Crocker (USA) 68 72 65 66, P Casey (Eng) 69 68 67 67, K Kitayama (USA) 67 68 68 68, D Horsey (Eng) 61 71 69 70, S Garcia (Esp) 70 67 64 70, S Kjeldsen (Den) 69 66 65 71,
272 B Dechambeau (USA) 65 70 68 69, I Poulter (Eng) 67 69 67 69, M Kaymer (Ger) 67 68 66 71,
273 Cormac Sharvin (Nir) 70 69 66 68 (€31,700), C Paisley (Eng) 68 67 69 69, K Na (USA) 69 63 71 70, S Gallacher (Sco) 62 68 72 71, L Canter (Eng) 66 68 68 71,
274 A Rozner (Fra) 67 67 72 68, T Fleetwood (Eng) 68 65 73 68, S Brown (Eng) 68 67 73 66,
275 M Kieffer (Ger) 71 67 67 70, R MacIntyre (Sco) 71 68 65 71, Shane Lowry (Irl) 70 67 67 71 (€25,421), M Southgate (Eng) 70 67 65 73,
276 J Winther (Den) 67 73 66 70, M Korhonen (Fin) 66 70 71 69, W Nienaber (RSA) 71 67 67 71, R Cabrera Bello (Esp) 69 69 69 69, A Wu (Chn) 68 68 68 72, J Donaldson (Wal) 72 67 69 68, G Migliozzi (Ita) 68 67 74 67, A Sullivan (Eng) 66 66 68 76,
277 J Kokrak (USA) 70 67 69 71, J Walters (RSA) 68 68 70 71, J Harding (RSA) 68 70 68 71, J Morrison (Eng) 67 73 67 70, M Schwab (Aut) 68 72 67 70, J Luiten (Ned) 67 66 75 69, D Burmester (RSA) 69 71 68 69, K Aphibarnrat (Tha) 73 67 68 69, J Vegas (Ven) 66 74 68 69,
278 J Suri (USA) 69 67 70 72, M Kawamura (Jpn) 66 71 68 73, L Westwood (Eng) 67 70 67 74,
279 C Bezuidenhout (RSA) 68 69 69 73, T Kanaya (Jpn) 67 71 69 72, R Fisher (Eng) 69 70 68 72, F Zanotti (Par) 66 71 67 75, P Mickelson (USA) 68 67 72 72, B Wiesberger (Aut) 64 68 71 76, M Pavon (Fra) 68 72 67 72, T Detry (Bel) 67 70 71 71, P Larrazábal (Esp) 69 71 69 70, A Ancer (Mex) 71 69 70 69,
280 W Ormsby (Aus) 71 69 69 71, D Willett (Eng) 67 72 71 70, R McGowan (Eng) 68 72 73 67,
281 P Reed (USA) 69 70 68 74, R Sterne (RSA) 69 70 68 74, O Wilson (Eng) 68 72 69 72, Graeme McDowell (Nir) 70 70 73 68 (€7,002),
282 M Kinhult (Swe) 65 68 74 75,
283 J Hansen (Den) 70 70 68 75,
284 J Janewattananond (Tha) 69 70 68 77, M Lorenzo-Vera (Fra) 69 70 70 75, R Langasque (Fra) 69 67 77 71,
287 J Guerrier (Fra) 70 70 73 74,
288 D Law (Sco) 70 70 69 79
