Monday, February 15, 2010

It's What You Do, Ain't The Way That You Do It

A W's a W.

In 10 years time, that's all you'll see on the scoresheet. There'll be the obsessive golf fans and bloggers who'll be able to take you through the last four hours play, but the win's what counts.
Dustin Johnson will never win another tournament with such a poor last round, but that shouldn't worry him. When the going got tough, he got going. Just about.

There've been some topsy-turvy final rounds on Tour in the last few years - who could forget Rory McIlroy's near-collapse in Dubai last year before getting up and down from a bunker to win? Sound familiar? Dustin Johnson had three bogeys, a double bogey, and an eagle at Pebble Beach before that closing birdie, and you can bet he didn't feel comfortable once.
It looked to be a two-horse race at the day's beginning, with Johnson and Paul Goydos 4 shots ahead of a pack led by J.B. Holmes. The younger, big-hitting horse stumbled at the first, and when he failed to par the par-5 2nd, it looked like he was going to have a few nerves to contend with.
Goydos had a shaky start too, and at the turn Johnson was a shot behind, having cancelled out his eagle with a three-putt from nowhere at the 9th. Holmes started fast, but the engines cooled and he was struggling to put pressure on the frontrunners. Leave it to David Duval - without a win in nearly nine years, Duval rolled back the clock to give himself a shout at the title - a costly 6 on the par-5 14th meant that he would just miss out in the end.

The turning point for Johnson came on the 15th, one hole after Goydos had ruled himself out with a disastrous 9, following young Bryce Molder, who suffered a similar fate in the group ahead, down the leaderboard. Johnson played a poor chip from behind the green, leaving himself 6 feet for par. He rolled it in, and for the first time all day looked to have some composure. A bogey on the 17th piled the pressure back on his shoulders for the daunting final hole, but when J.B. failed to pick up a shot a birdie would be enough. A massive drive and an iron into the front bunker left Johnson a straightforward up-and-down, which he duly converted to defend his title.

He won it ugly, but it's another win, making him the first player since Tiger Woods to win in each of his first three seasons on Tour. Is he the real deal? All we saw yesterday was that he's not immune to pressure. Then again, who is? When it came to it he made a big putt on 15, and then played the home hole with guts. Let people criticise his smashing of the driver in a final round - he hit plenty of fairways - if you have a strength, play to it.
That's the sort of win that makes you that bit stronger when you're in that position again. And he will be in that position again. Following his bronze finish the week before, Johnson's risen to World Number 25, and will have one eye firmly on Corey Pavin's Ryder Cup team, vice-captained by? You got it - Paul Goydos.

The PGA Tour's delivered some smashing finishes in the last month, and we're heading into one of the best weeks of the year. 64 players head to Tucson for the World Matchplay, also known as Geoff Ogilvy's personal playground. Johnson against Camilo Villegas is just one of several mouth-watering 1st round matches, and don't be surprised if Johnson gets off to a flyer. His swashbuckling game might well suit the one-on-one format - with birdies and eagles galore the odd bogey can be alright.

Tune in tomorrow for a preview of the Matchplay, and a few tips for who might triumph in the desert.

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