Photo from Google Images
On Sunday, I had the PGA on my TV and the Dodgers on my Ipad. It was the 2020 version of a Vegas Sports Book. Life felt slightly normal for a few hours.
The Northern Trust (formally known as the Barclays) is played between the greater New York City area and Boston. This year it was played at TPC Boston in Norton, Massachusetts and dominated by Dustin Johnson who had won the tournament in 2011 and in 2017.
With both the NBA and the NHL playoffs going on and with MLB at the new half season mark, the PGA coverage of a non-Major event. It wasn’t as popular on my social media feeds as the ‘some bleep-bleep white boy’ for the Dallas Mavericks.
On Friday, Dustin Johnson shot a career low scoring 60 on round two after flirting with 59. (A 59 has only been shot 13 times in PGA Tour history.) With a 27 on the front nine, DJ made golf look easy. But there is nothing easy about scoring two eagles, five birdies and two pars on the front nine. On Saturday, DJ sank an incredible 40-foot putt on 18 to eagle. Forty! A 40-FOOT PUTT! Four-foot putts are difficult. Going into Sunday DJ had a five-shot lead. If you follow DJ (or just watched the 2020 PGA Championship) you know that it’s not how you start, but how you finish.
In the leader group on Sunday, DJ got his 5th eagle of the tournament on hole #2. DJ had a confidence that we don’t always see. DJ is an introvert. Talking to the media is not his strength or where he is the most comfortable. The combination of confidence and a no-fans allowed course was the perfect storm, literally. A 74-minute weather delay came in as DJ was on the 17th hole.
Dustin Johnson was on fire and the sports gods needed to cool off the greens, but even mother nature couldn’t contain DJ. He ended the 18th hole with a birdie and -30 to win by 11, ELEVN, strokes! This was the largest margin of victory on the PGA Tour since 2006 and the second-lowest finish (254 strokes at 30 under par) in PGA Tour history. And most of America missed it thanks to CBS for not showing the final holes when the delay was over. CBS defined a double bogey in golf. (But I’d give them an ace for the stats when they were on the air.)
Sunday’s win was DJ’s 22nd career win on the PGA Tour and his 11th win with his brother, Austin, as his caddie. DJ said “I knew I was playing well, and I knew the guys were going to shoot low, I was trying to get to 30 under.” Mission accomplished!
DJ now leads the FedEx Cup points as DJ tries to win his first FedEx Cup. (The FedEx Cup is a points system based on points accumulated through the PGA Tour regular season and the FedEx Cup Playoff. This year, due to Covid-19, only three tournaments will make up the Playoff. Usually there are four tournaments.) With the Northern Trust in the books, The BMW Championship- Olympia Fields Country Club in Olympia Fields, Illinois will tee-off this weekend and the Tour Championship- East Lake Golf Club, Atlanta, Georgia will tee-off Labor Day weekend.
When asked about winning the FedEx Cup, DJ said “It’s something I haven’t won. It’s something I’ve been close to winning a few times, and it’s just something that I would really like to have on my resumé when I’m done playing golf. You know, it’s a big title. It means a lot to all the guys out here. It definitely means a lot to me, and it’s something that I really want to be a FedEx Cup champion.” Winning the $15million dollar purse is something that I would really like to win too!
Sunday’s win also put DJ back where he belongs; ranked as the number one golfer in the world! (DJ spent 91 weeks ranked number one from February 2017 through May 2019.) When asked about being back at one, DJ said “It’s something that I’m very proud of is to be No. 1 in the world, and I’d like to stay there for a little while. Obviously, it’s been jumping around a bunch here the last few months. But you know, the last time I was #1, I think I stayed there for quite some time, and that’s another goal of mine is just to see how long I can stay at #1.”