MEMPHIS, TENNESSEE | While Dustin Johnson
was gone, he certainly was not forgotten and he
clearly remembered how to win. Johnson broke
away from a tightly bunched pack with birdies
late in the final round to win the FedEx St. Jude
Classic on Sunday.
Johnson, 27, won his sixth PGA Tour event
and has now won at least one tournament in
each of the past five years. And he heads into
this week’s U.S. Open running on a high in confidence and form. Johnson had missed 11 weeks
on Tour because of a back injury and returned
just two weeks ago at the Memorial Tournament.
Johnson shot a final-round 66 to finish 72
holes at 9-under 271 on the par-70 TPC South-wind. He wound up winning by one over John
Merrick, but it was much closer than that in the
early afternoon in Memphis.
Players were started early Sunday morning
in threesomes, hoping to avoid a forecast of
afternoon thunderstorms so the competitors
could easily get out of town to travel to San
Francisco today for the U.S. Open.
About midway through the back nine, 11
players were within one shot of the lead that
was held at times by Johnson, Merrick, Rory
McIlroy, Chad Campbell and Nick O’Hern.
But Johnson made birdies on the par- 5 16th
and the par- 4 17th to take the lead for good.
He safely found the fairway on the treacherous par- 4 18th and two-putted from 30 feet to
capture the win.
McIlroy, Campbell, O’Hern and Merrick all
stood on the 18th tee needing a birdie to catch
Johnson, and only Merrick was able to make as
much as a par. McIlroy drove it in the water off
the tee and made double-bogey, O’Hern drove
in the water and saved bogey, while Camp-
bell missed the the green with his second and
couldn’t get up and down. Merrick drove in the
right rough, couldn’t reach the green and saved
par from the right of the green.
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