Dustin Johnson started his reign as world No. 1 in the best possible way by winning the WGC Mexico Championship in Mexico City on Sunday.
The long-hitting American surrendered a big lead on the back nine before securing a one-stroke victory over Englishman Tommy Fleetwood at the Club de Golf Chapultepec.
Johnson finished at 14-under 270 for his second consecutive victory, after winning the Genesis Open two weeks previously.
That five-stroke victory at Riviera in California vaulted Johnson to the No. 1 world ranking for the first time. If he felt the pressure in Mexico, it hardly showed.
“It means a lot,” Johnson, who shot 68, said when asked how it felt to win in his debut as No. 1. “It’s a tough spot to be in. There’s a lot of pressures on you. I came out and played really well.”
Johnson has now won 14 times on the PGA Tour.
“I felt like I hit the ball great all week,” Johnson said. “The greens, they’re tough to putt on. I didn’t putt my best, but I really hit the ball well and played just well enough I guess, because I’ve won by one.”
TSHWANE OPEN
Reuters, PRETORIA
A blistering start allowed Dean Burmester to surge away from the field at the start of the final round before surviving a late wobble to secure his maiden European Tour title when he won the Tshwane Open by three shots on Sunday.
“I knew that if I could get through unscathed on the back nine I would make it, but bogeys weren’t great. I was just trying to keep myself calm. I never thought I was that far ahead, it was only when I got to the 17th that my caddie said to me: ‘Don’t worry, we’ve got this,’” Burmester said.
Mikko Korhonen of Finland and Spaniard Jorge Campillo were the runners-up on 269, with Peter Uihlein of the US a stroke further back.
Revelations of positive doping tests for nearly two dozen Chinese swimmers that went unpunished sparked an intense flurry of accusations and legal threats between the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) and the head of the US drug-fighting organization, who has long been one of WADA’s fiercest critics. WADA on Saturday said it was turning to legal counsel to address a statement released by US Anti-Doping Agency (USADA) CEO Travis Tygart, who said WADA and anti-doping authorities in China swept positive tests “under the carpet by failing to fairly and evenly follow the global rules that apply to everyone else in the world.” The
Taiwanese judoka Yang Yung-wei on Saturday won silver in the men’s under-60kg category at the Asian Judo Championships in Hong Kong. Nicknamed the “judo heartthrob” in Taiwan, the Olympic silver-medalist missed out on his first Asian Championships gold when he lost to Japanese judoka Taiki Nakamura in the finals. Yang defeated three opponents on Saturday to reach the final after receiving a bye through the round of 32. He first topped Laotian Soukphaxay Sithisane in the round of 16 with two seoi nage (over-the-shoulder throws), then ousted Indian Vijay Kumar Yadav in the quarter-finals with his signature ude hishigi sankaku gatame (triangular armlock). He
Rafael Nadal on Wednesday said the upcoming French Open would be the moment to “give everything and die” on the court after his comeback from injury in Barcelona was curtailed by Alex de Minaur. The 22-time Grand Slam title winner, back playing this week after three months on the sidelines, battled well, but eventually crumbled 7-5, 6-1 against the world No. 11 from Australia in the second round. Nadal, 37, who missed virtually all of last season, is hoping to compete at the French Open next month where he is the record 14-time champion. The Spaniard said the clash with De Minaur was
RALLY: It was only the second time the Taiwanese has partnered with Kudermetova, and the match seemed tight until they won seven points in a row to take the last set 10-2 Taiwan’s Chan Hao-ching and Russia’s Veronika Kudermetova on Sunday won the Porsche Tennis Grand Prix women’s doubles final in Stuttgart, Germany. The pair defeated Norway’s Ulrikke Eikeri and Estonia’s Ingrid Neel 4-6, 6-3, 10-2 in a tightly contested match at the WTA 500 tournament. Chan and Kudermetova fell 4-6 in the first set after having their serve broken three times, although they played increasingly well. They fought back in the second set and managed to break their opponents’ serve in the eighth game to triumph 6-3. In the tiebreaker, Chan and Kudermetova took a 3-0 lead before their opponents clawed back two points, but