OLYMPIA FIELDS, Illinois – Even with so few people around, Jon Rahm could hear from across the Olympia Fields clubhouse that Dustin Johnson had a 45-foot birdie in the final hole to force a Sunday playoff in the BMW championship.
Resilient as ever, Rahm went out and did his magic.
From one end of the 18th green to the other, Rahm’s 66-foot, 5-foot putt rolled down the ridge and into the cup, causing a roar so loud it almost made up for the lack of spectators.
“I knew how good the DJ sounded. I wasn’t expecting anything else,” Rahm said. “I was fully confident he would make it to the playoffs and hoped to win it. I never thought I’d do another 50, 60 feet, a couple of breaks in there, to end up winning it.”
Johnson could only laugh at his putt birdie, eliciting a rare display of emotion – a slow, wide top cut. And he had the same reaction to what Rahm did. What else is there to do?
“I played an incredible putt, got into the playoffs and then Jon put an even more ridiculous putt on top of me,” said Johnson, who has scored two runners-up and one win in his last three starts.
The course that all week felt like a US Open conveyed the kind of Masters excitement.
Rahm’s big birdie putt on the first extra hole spared him the thought of his mistake in round three, when he picked up his ball on the fifth green without scoring it, leading to a one-stroke penalty and his only bogey of the weekend.
He snatched the second nine on Sunday on the road for a 6-under 64, the lowest round of the week, to finish at 4-under 276.
Johnson, a 54-hole leader for his third consecutive tournament and who won with 11 shots last week at TPC Boston, took three of his first four holes to open a three-shot lead, dropped a couple of shots around the corner and then delivered into the clutch with his 45-foot birdie putt on the last hole for a 67.
It was just good enough to stay at number 1 by a slight margin.
He also remains at # 1 in the FedEx Cup by going to the Tour Championship, which means he will begin the hunt for the $ 15 million bonus at 10 under par, two ahead of Rahm, the No. 2.
Joaquin Niemann, the 21-year-old Chilean, also had a lively run with a 67 and was leading until a bugbear on 14th and no birdies for the rest of the course. He tied for third with Hideki Matsuyama, who had a 69.
Tony Finau finished with a 65 and finished three behind. They were the only five players under par at Olympia Fields.
Rahm has won for the second time this year on the PGA Tour and the eleventh time in his career worldwide.
Mackenzie Hughes also had reason to celebrate.
He was on the verge of entering the top 30 advancing at East Lake when he caught a sloppy bogey on the 17. Needing a par on the 18, he approached the front bunker, splashed 5 feet and raised both arms when fell.
Niemann also entered the top 30, although he was chasing the win all day.
Adam Long and Kevin Streelman were eliminated and Long suffered the worst of those fates. He was screened in 30th place in the FedEx Cup until Corey Conners made three 5-foot putts for double bogey in the final hole. This allowed Billy Horschel to gain enough places in the standings to move up to 30th and last place by three points over Long.
The top 30 are guaranteed spots in at least three majors next year, along with the Sentry Tournament of Champions in Kapalua to kick off the year. The winners-only event is leading the top 30 in the FedEx Cup from missing three months of the season due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Tiger Woods has lost all the action. He scored a double bugbear on his 17th hole for a 71, making this the first time he has been above par in all four rounds of a tournament since the Bridgestone Invitational in 2010.
Woods failed to reach the Tour Championship for the second consecutive year. Now he gets a two-week break before the US Open at the Winged Foot, and Olympia Fields have proved a good test case.
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