LEMONT, Ill. — Dustin Johnson won the BMW Championship and eased a summer of Sunday disappointments.
Playing in the final group for the fourth time since June, Johnson blasted a tee shot over the trees and into the fairway on the 17th hole to set up a tap-in birdie and the outright lead. He closed with a 2-under-par 69 for a one-shot victory over Paul Casey.
It was the second victory this year for Johnson, a 26-year-old American who has quickly emerged as one of golf’s rising stars. And it helped ease the sting of lost chances in three other tournaments, including two majors.
He blew a three-shot lead at the U.S. Open. He made up a three-shot deficit at the PGA Championship, only to lose a one-shot lead on the final hole when he didn’t realize he was in a bunker and grounded his club.
“To finally get it done, especially after all the things I’ve gone through this summer . . . it can’t feel any better,” said Johnson, who finished at 9-under 275 and won $1.35 million. “I played really good golf today.”
Johnson played bogey-free and was flawless to the very end on the back nine Sunday.
He moved to No. 2 in the FedEx Cup standings, giving him a good shot at the $10 million bonus in two weeks at the Tour Championship.
One player he won’t have to beat in Atlanta is Tiger Woods.
The world’s No. 1 player sputtered at the start and shot 70 to tie for 15th, not nearly enough to move into the top 30 in the standings and advance to the FedEx Cup finale.
It’s the first time as a pro that Woods hasn’t been eligible for a tournament.
Woods played with Phil Mickelson for the first time all year, and Lefty buried him. Mickelson closed with a 67 and tied for eighth, his first top 10 since the U.S. Open.
It was the 26th time the world’s best two players have been in the same group, and the record stands at 11-11-4.
Casey was left off the Ryder Cup team despite being No. 9 in the world when European captain Colin Montgomerie made his three picks.
Casey had a great chance to make Montgomerie look foolish, building a three-shot lead on the back nine, only to throw it away with three consecutive bogeys. Casey had three chances from the fairway coming in, but didn’t give himself a birdie opportunity inside 25 feet.
“It was myself against the golf course, 72 holes, and I played it one shot worse than Dustin Johnson,” Casey said.
Footnotes.
Taiwan’s Yani Tseng won the Northwest Arkansas Championship in Rogers, Ark., for her third LPGA Tour victory of the year, shooting a 6-under 65 to rally past second-round leader Michelle Wie.
• Russ Cochran won the Songdo Championship for his first Champions Tour win, making a birdie on the first hole of a playoff with Fred Funk in Incheon, South Korea.
• PGA champion Martin Kaymer won the KLM Open in Hilversum, Netherlands, by four strokes after shooting a final-round 4-under 66.
The Associated Press
