Dustin Johnson has long been one of the best golfers on the PGA Tour, and on Sunday at the Travelers Championship, he showed why he was once the number one golfer in the world. He entered the day two strokes back of Brendon Todd. He ended up shooting a 3-under par 67 to win the tournament by one stroke in golf’s third week back.
At the conclusion of Thursday’s first round, there were not a whole lot of people who probably thought that Johnson had a shot of winning as he was nine strokes off the lead, but after shooting 6-under 64 on Friday, and a career best 9-under 61 on Saturday, Johnson vaulted up to second place in the standings.
The victory for Johnson during Sunday’s final round was in doubt at times. On the 13th hole, Johnson drove his tee shot out of bounds, forcing him to re-hit. He was able to limit the damage however and only walk away with a bogey. Two holes later on 15, Johnson’s tee shot once again went left toward a lake and hung on by the edge of its teeth and did not bounce into the water. This enabled Johnson to hit the ball out of the hazard and was once again able to walk away with a bogey. Either of those two holes go differently in a bad way for Johnson, it is very likely that Kevin Streelman, who finished second, would have won his second Travelers Championship in his career.
Johnson’s win was the 21st of his career, and extended his streak of consecutive years with a win to 13. The 13 consecutive seasons with a victory is the fourth longest streak ever, trailing only Arnold Palmer and Jack Nicklaus at 17, and Tiger Woods at 14. The 21st career victory ties him for 30th in all-time victories.
The PGA Tour, despite an increase in positive cases for COVID-19, will continue with its season with the Rocket Mortgage Classic in Detroit, Michigan.
