Dustin Johnson finally got it done — and in record-breaking fashion.
After blowing four-consecutive 54-hole leads at a major dating back to 2010 — the longest streak in major history — the world’s No. 1 golfer won his first Masters, shooting a 4-under on Sunday for a total of 20-under.
He set a new scoring record at The Masters, his final score and 268 total shots the lowest of all-time at the competition dating back to its start in 1934.
Johnson entered Sunday at Augusta with a four-shot lead, trying a 54-hole scoring record with a 16-under over the first three days of the tournament. That included no bogeys in 30-straight holes.
His day started clean enough with pars on each of his first two holes, but his lead was quickly halved after Cameron Smith and Sungjae Im posted a pair of birdies respectively through their first three to move within two strokes of Johnson.
After a birdie on No. 3 regained his three-shot lead momentarily, Johnson’s bogey-less streak ended on 4 after three-putting the par-three hole which included a miss from nine feet out to save par.
Further pressure mounted when his tee shot on the par-four, 495-yard fifth found the bunker. He couldn’t work around it, posting a second-straight bogey to whittle his lead down to one stroke.
Both youngsters made impressive introductions on the national golfing stage — especially the Australian, Smith, who became the first golfer in Masters history to shoot four-straight rounds of 69 or fewer.
As Im and Smith remained in striking distance, McIlroy charged on the front nine with three birdies, getting to within four strokes of Johnson’s lead.
That was as close as he’d get, though, as went even on the back nine to secure a top-10 finish, but nothing more.
The fledgling Johnson quickly stabilized, though, rolling in two birdies on Nos. 6 and 8 to get to 17-under for the tournament.
Smith continued his push to keep up with Johnson, registering birdies on two of the final three holes of the front nine to stay within two at 15-under.
But a bogey on No. 11 opened a chance for Johnson to extend his lead back to its original margin of four strokes — which he managed to do with a birdie on No. 13.
Two more consecutive birdies on 14 and 15 quickly made the backstretch of the back nine a coronation rather than an uncertainty. That third-straight birdie on 15 made Johnson the first player ever to touch 20-under at The Masters.
Last year’s champion, Tiger Woods, finished in tied for 38th with a 1-under after shooting 4-over on the day. While he was never in the conversation of repeating at Masters champion, he was undone by a 10 on No. 12, finding the water three times — a section of Augusta made famous by Jordan Spieth’s collapse in 2016.
This first appeared on AMNY.com
