Dustin Johnson on Sunday joined elite company with his three-stroke victory over Paul Casey at the BMW Championship at Crooked Stick Golf Club in Carmel, Indiana.
Johnson collected his 12th PGA Tour title since joining the tour in 2008, a record bettered only by Tiger Woods.
Woods has 18 victories in that period, while Rory McIlroy also has 12.
Not that Johnson was thinking about his place among the elite as he recovered from a faltering start in the final round.
It took him only three holes to give up his three-shot lead to Casey, but four birdies over the next five holes re-established his advantage.
The US Open champion continued the best year of his career, carding 67 to finish at 23-under-par 265.
“I hit a lot of good shots, a couple of bad misses, but other than that played really solid all week,” Johnson, 32, said in a greenside interview.
“I got a lot of confidence in every part of my game, especially all the work I’ve put in on my wedges has really paid off this year, and this week I [used a] new putter and it really worked,” he added,
Englishman Casey also shot 67 for second place on 20-under, his second consecutive runner-up finish, with the US’ Roberto Castro (67) another three shots back in third place. Johnson finished 11 strokes clear of fourth place.
With his third win of the year, Johnson jumped to top spot on a FedEx Cup points list as the top 30 players advance to the season finale Tour Championship in Atlanta, Georgia, in two weeks.
Among notables to fall outside the top 30 and miss out on a chance at the US$10 million jackpot were the US’ Rickie Fowler, Spain’s Sergio Garcia, Brooks Koepka of the US and Sweden’s Henrik Stenson.
Fowler, who finished 59th in the 69-man field on Sunday, is among those hoping to be named among US Ryder Cup captain Davis Love’s three wild-card picks for this month’s event against Europe.
Love is to make his fourth and final pick after the Tour Championship.
Johnson said he was “frustrated” by his poor start to the final round, but was confident he was playing well enough to turn it around in his 200th start on tour.
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