American Dustin Johnson, world number one in golf, won his first Augusta Masters this Sunday with the best score (20 under par) in the history of this iconic Grand Slam tournament.
The American, who claimed the second major trophy of his career after the 2016 US Open, became the first number one to triumph at the Augusta National since Tiger Woods in 2002.
Five strokes away were Australian Cameron Smith and South Korean rookie Im Sung-jae, while Tiger Woods, who was defending the title, sank this Sunday to the 38th place shared.
The Spanish Jon Rahm, world number two, finished in seventh position, 10 strokes behind the champion, and the Mexican Abraham Ancer, who started the last day in second place, fell to thirteenth place.
The 36-year-old Dustin Johnson was a four-shot favorite into the final round, and on the final round he put on a display of character as he recovered from a poor start. Two consecutive bogeys on the fourth and fifth holes dropped his lead to just two strokes over Smith.
But the American, who in the past missed the victory in the last round in four Grand Slam tournaments, scared away those ghosts with five birdies that drove him to a card of 68 strokes and a total of 268 (-20), the best score never achieved in the 84 editions of the Masters. “I knew I had to put pressure on him soon, but (Johnson) was too good in the end,” admitted Cameron Smith.
Johnson’s partner, Paulina Gretzky, ran to congratulate the champion as soon as he finished his last hole at Augusta National, where for the first time in history there were no spectators present due to the coronavirus pandemic.
The Mexican Abraham Ancer, debutant in the Masters, had an unfortunate last round, which had started in the group in second position with the dream of conquering his first title and the first Grand Slam for his country. However, the 29-year-old made four bogeys in the first seven holes and finished with a 76-stroke card, four over par, falling to a shared 13th place.
Tiger’s nightmare
The American Tiger Woods, the defending champion, started the day far from the top and lived a nightmare at the 12th hole (par 3), with the worst score of his career in a hole in a Grand Slam tournament.
Woods needed 10 strokes to get past him, after sending two balls to the lake and a third to the bunker. This unexpected setback dropped his overall score from -3 to +4 in the standings, finishing the round with 76 strokes in 38th place shared.
With 11 strokes of difference at the start of the day, Woods was aware that he had little chance of donning his sixth green jacket, with which he would tie Jack Nicklaus’ record.
The winner of 15 major tournaments equaled his best opening round in Augusta on Thursday with 68 strokes, but was losing steam in the next two, and will have to wait for a new attempt to achieve his 83rd PGA title, a record in the circuit .
For his part, Jon Rahm failed to overcome the positions lost due to his notorious errors on Saturday and finished in seventh place, 10 strokes behind the leader.
The Masters was delayed this year from April to November due to the coronavirus pandemic.
“It seems me a dream”
Excited to tears, Dustin Johnson received the Augusta Masters winner’s green jacket from Tiger Woods, the trophy he said he had dreamed of since he was a child. Honestly, it still seems like a dream to me. When I was a child I dreamed of winning the Masters, and for Tiger to wear the green jacket, it seems like a dream (…) I could not be more excited, “said the world number one. Johnson, 36, grew up just an hour’s drive from Augusta National. “The Masters for me is the biggest tournament, the one I wanted to win the most,” he stressed with Tiger, five-time winner of the title.
«I was nervous all day. I could feel it, “he acknowledged. “I’m very proud of the way I handled myself on the pitch (…) It was a difficult day, it is always difficult in a ‘major’, no matter how well you play, it is just as difficult,” he acknowledged. Johnson said breaking the Masters scoring record “is a great honor.” “The field conditions helped, but also very difficult today because of the wind,” he said. “I’m so excited I can’t even speak,” he said.
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