Dustin Johnson has overtaken Jason Day at the top of the world rankings following an imperious victory at the Genesis Open in California.
The 32-year-old reigning US Open champion won by five shots from Scott Brown and Thomas Pieters after carding a final round 71, to add to earlier rounds of 66, 66 and 64, which gave him a 17-under-par total. He had to play both his third and fourth rounds on Sunday, after storms disrupted the tournament.
Nearly seven hours of play were lost during Friday’s storms, with the second round delayed by a further two hours on Saturday to clear up the course. Johnson was unable to start his third round on Saturday evening as bad light suspended play 17 minutes before he was scheduled to tee off. But the American continued his fine form from the first two rounds, dropping only two shots over the entire weekend.
“I believe in myself. I think I’m a great player,” said Johnson after Sunday’s victory at Riviera Country Club. “I’ve finished second here a couple of times, lost in a play-off, and felt I should have won a couple of other times, so it’s feel good to have finally got the job done.”
Victory – his fourth since last June – took Johnson to the top of the world rankings, leapfrogging past Day, who had held the top spot for 47 weeks.
Pieters fired a final round 63 to take the joint runner up spot, and earned himself a spot in the next two World Golf Championships events. He is now ranked 38th in the world. Justin Rose finished tied third.
WHAT’S IN DUSTIN JOHNSON’S BAG?
DRIVER: TaylorMade M1 (10.5)
FAIRWAY WOOD: TaylorMade M2 (16)
IRONS: TaylorMade TP MBs (3-PW)
WEDGES: TaylorMade Milled Grind (52, 60)
PUTTER: TaylorMade Spider Tour Black
BALL: TaylorMade TP5x