Dustin Johnson proved to himself he can hold a last-day lead to win a major, taking the Masters title he most desired, and the world No. 1 is just getting started.
Johnson on Sunday delivered an impressive closing round at Augusta National to win in record fashion, handling the tension to set a Masters 72-hole record of 20-under 268 with a final-round 68 for a five-stroke triumph.
“Growing up so close to here, since I played my first Masters, it’s been the tournament I wanted to win the most,” Johnson said.
Photo: EPA-EFE
After going winless in four majors with a lead entering the final round, the kid who grew up an hour’s drive away now wears a green jacket.
“I proved I can get it done on Sunday with the lead at a major, especially in tough conditions,” Johnson said. “I proved to myself that I do have it. There was doubts in my mind, just because I had been there. I’m in this position a lot of times. Like when am I going to have the lead and finish off a major? It definitely proved I can do it.”
Johnson, whose only other major title came at the 2016 US Open, sees the door open for more major success.
“I dream of winning a lot of majors. Just hadn’t quite happened yet,” he said. “Hopefully this one will help, though, give me a little spring... I couldn’t be more happy and I think I look pretty good in green, too.”
Johnson was joined for the week by his caddie and brother Austin Johnson.
“It’s unbelievable having my brother on my bag. I just love experiencing all these moments with him. I wouldn’t want it any other way,” Dustin Johnson said.
Having 15-time major winner Tiger Woods put the jacket on his shoulders was nice, too.
“Having Tiger put it on was awesome and unbelievable. You wouldn’t want it any other way, but any guy could put it on me and I’d be just fine,” he said.
Meanwhile, Taiwanese golfer C.T. Pan said that he would be returning to Augusta National for more sandwiches next year.
The Masters rookie, who turned 29 on Thursday last week, earned an invitation back for next year by finishing at 10-under in a tie for seventh place.
Pan thanked Augusta National for having him and had a special shout-out for the food.
“My wife and I, we just love all the dinners, all the sandwiches out here,” Pan said.
Asked which sandwich was his favorite, he said: “After long debates with my wife, I want to say egg salad sandwich. I’ve tried the pimento cheese, egg salad, the burger, the grouper sandwich, the fried chicken sandwich, all the sandwiches I could get. I tried them all.”
Additional reporting by AP
Taiwanese world No. 1 women’s doubles star Hsieh Su-wei on Saturday overcame a first-set loss to win her opening match at the Madrid Open. Top seeds Hsieh and partner Elise Mertens of Belgium, with whom she last month won her fourth Indian Wells women’s doubles title, bounced back from a rocky first set to beat Asia Muhammad of the US and Aldila Sutjiadi of Indonesia 2-6, 6-4, 10-2. Hsieh and Mertens were next to face Heather Watson of the UK and Xu Yifan of China in the round of 16. Thirty-eight-year-old Hsieh last month reclaimed her world No. 1 spot after her Indian
EYES ON THE PRIZE: Armed with three solid men’s singles shuttlers and doubles Olympic champions, Taiwan aim to make their first Thomas Cup semi-final, Chou Tien-chen said Taiwanese badminton star Tai Tzu-ying yesterday quickly dispatched Malaysia’s Goh Jin Wei in straight sets, while her male counterpart Chou Tien-chen beat Germany’s Kai Schaefer, as Taiwan’s women’s and men’s teams won their Group B opening rounds of the TotalEnergies BWF Thomas and Uber Cup Finals in Chengdu, China. World No. 5 Tai beat Goh 21-19, 22-20 in a speedy 33 minutes, her fourth straight victory over the world No. 24 shuttler since they first faced each other in the quarter-finals of the 2018 Malaysia Open, where Tai went on to win the women’s singles title. Malaysia followed up Tai’s opening victory
Chen Yi-tung (陳奕通) secured a historic Olympic berth on Sunday by winning the senior men’s foil event at the 2024 Asia Oceania Zonal Olympic Fencing Qualifiers in United Arab Emirates. Chen defeated Samuel Elijah of Singapore 15-4 in the final in Dubai to secure the only wild card in the event, making him the first male Olympian fencer from Taiwan in 36 years and only the sixth Taiwanese fencer to ever qualify for the quadrennial event. The last appearance by a Taiwanese male fencer at the Olympics was in 1988, when Wang San-tsai (王三財) and Cheng Ming-hsiang (鄭明祥) competed in Seoul. The
Rafael Nadal on Tuesday lost in straight sets to 31st-ranked Jiri Lehecka in the fourth round at the Madrid Open, while Taiwan’s Hsieh Su-wei advanced to the semi-finals in the women’s doubles. Nadal said that he was feeling good about his progress following his latest injury layoff. Nadal called it a “positive week” in every way and said his body held up well. “I was able to play four matches, a couple of tough matches,” Nadal said. “So very positive, winning three matches, playing four matches at the high level of tennis. I enjoyed a lot playing at home. I leave here with