Dustin Johnson completes WGC Slam with Dell-Technologies Match Play win
Dustin Johnson did something on Sunday that Tiger Woods never did in his dominance of the World Golf Championships events. Johnson beat a game Jon Rahm in the final of the WGC-Dell Technologies Match Play, finishing off a 7-0-0 week with a par on the last hole of their 18-hole match.
With that win, Johnson became the first PGA Tour player to win all four current World Golf Championships events (Woods never won the WGC-HSBC Champions). Johnson has won three WGC events in a row, dating back to the WGC-Bridgestone Invitational last June after his U.S. Open win. He then took the inaugural WGC-Mexico Championship and this title, now through its second year in Texas. Johnson won the WGC-HSBC Champions in 2013.
Johnson cruised out to a big, early edge in the final. He was 5 up on Rahm, who had a chance to tie Woods for the fewest pro starts to reach the world top 10 with a win, through eight holes. However, Rahm rallied on the back nine, winning four of the first seven holes to bring Johnson’s edge down to a hole.
On the final two holes, Rahm was unable to make a birdie that would have forced sudden death. After driving his ball beyond the green on the 356-yard 18th hole, which he hadn’t seen all week, Rahm was startled by a closing port-a-john door that led to a bad eagle chip. When he couldn’t make a wide-breaking birdie putt, his fate was sealed.
Johnson, now a dominant No. 1, was thrilled to survive on another two-match day that left him exhausted.
“I definitely didn’t play my best today in the first match or the second,” Johnson said. “So to win both those matches not having my best stuff is definitely a positive. And I’m definitely proud of the way I hung in there and played tough and just tried to never give away holes, which I felt like I did a pretty good job of that.”
There’s no doubt Johnson is the clear-and-away favorite to win the Masters in two weeks. Depending on if he remains in the field for next week’s Shell Houston Open, Johnson may well be playing at Augusta National to extend his winning streak to four events. And believe it or not, Johnson thinks he can still improve.
“I’ve got a lot of confidence now. Confidence in my game and confidence in myself,” he said. “And I just need to keep working on it, keep trying to get better and keep working hard.”
Ryan Ballengee is a Yahoo Sports contributor. Find him on Facebook and Twitter.
