The Dustin Johnson Surprising Final Round Meltdown
Dustin Johnson is the #1 ranked player in the world. So when he entered the final round with the 54-hole lead at the RBC Heritage, chances were pretty good he’d be in good shape coming up to the last hole.
Not so much.
Golf.com’s Dylan Dethier analyzes DJ’ precipitous fall from a one-stroke lead to T28.
10 — Additional number of shots Sunday D.J. took on holes 11-15 versus Saturday D.J. Saturday, Johnson went par-par-birdie-birdie-birdie on the five-hole stretch. Sunday was a disaster on those same holes: bogey-bogey-bogey-double-double. No coincidence that he shot 68 on Saturday and 77 on Sunday.
1 — Number of players in the field that Johnson beat on Sunday. Satoshi Kodaira had a rough one, finishing with an 11-over 82. Johnson and four others (Cody Gribble, Mackenzie Hughes, Nick Taylor and Charley Hoffman) shot 77.
3 — Times Johnson has shot 77 or higher when holding the 54-hole lead. No other PGA Tour player has accomplished that feat more than once in the last 15 years, per Justin Ray. Johnson also stumbled at the 2010 U.S. Open at Pebble Beach and lost a big lead at the 2017 WGC-HSBC Champions.
Today was the third time Dustin Johnson shot 77 or worse in the final round of a PGA Tour event in which he held the 54-hole lead (’10 US Open, ’17 WGC-HSBC). In the last 15 years, no other player has done that more than once.
— Justin Ray (@JustinRayGolf) April 21, 2019
Rest assured, Dustin won’t fret over this as one of his biggest assets is owning quick amnesia. Yet, there’s this…
DJ’s 77 on Sunday matched his highest score in the last two seasons. It was his third 77 in that span (110 rounds). He started the day with the lead each time.
2017 WGC-HSBC
4th round
Led by 62018 U.S. Open
3rd round
Led by 42019 RBC Heritage
4th round
Led by 1— Sean Martin (@PGATOURSMartin) April 22, 2019
Anyway, below is a more positive stat if Johnson could’ve hung on.
With a win today, @DJohnsonPGA will have four consecutive multi-win seasons on the @PGATOUR. The last 20 years, only Tiger (2x), Phil and Vijay have had four multi-win seasons in a row.
— Justin Ray (@JustinRayGolf) April 21, 2019
