Golf
Johnson wins St. Jude title
2012-06-11 07:03
Memphis - Dustin Johnson birdied two of the
last three holes Sunday to win the US PGA St. Jude Classic after
reigning US Open champion Rory McIlroy's hopes ended with a double bogey
on the last hole.
Johnson captured his sixth US PGA victory at
the $5.6 million event, his first since last year's Barclays, by firing a
final-round 66, four-under par, that included birdies at the par-5 16th
and par-4 17th holes.
Johnson finished 72 holes on nine-under par
271, one stroke ahead of fellow American John Merrick and two in front
of Australian Nick O'Hern and Americans Davis Love, Ryan Palmer and Chad
Campbell.
Northern Ireland's McIlroy, who defends his US Open
crown starting on Thursday at The Olympic Club, was among half a dozen
contenders within a stroke of the lead over the final holes at TPC
Southwind.
McIlroy birdied the par-4 second, par-3 fourth and
par-4 seventh holes and added another at the par-3 11th to put himself
in the title hunt. Even after bogeys at the par-4 12th and par-3 14th he
was among the leaders.
A birdie at the par-4 17th gave him a
share of the lead at eight-under, but McIlroy's double bogey at 18 left
him with a 69 to share seventh on 274 with American Ken Duke, Australian
Robert Allenby and South Korean Seung-Yul Noh.
Johnson started
well with an opening birdie and back-to-back birdies at the sixth and
seventh before closing the front nine with his lone bogey of the day,
then making six pars before his back-to-back bogeys and a closing par to
win.
Merrick birdied the 15th an 16th but was undone by his double bogey at 12 while Campbell and O'Hern were undone by bogeys at 18.
Leading scores on Sunday after the final round of the $5.6 million PGA Tour's St. Jude Classic (USA unless noted): 271 - Dustin Johnson 70-68-67-66
272 - John Merrick 66-69-69-68
273 - Ryan Palmer 74-66-67-66, Chad Campbell 68-67-70-68, Nick O'Hern (AUS) 70-67-67-69, Davis Love 68-68-68-69
274 - Ken Duke 68-68-73-65, Seung-yul Noh (KOR) 67-69-72-66, Rory McIlroy (NIR) 68-65-72-69, Robert Allenby (AUS) 68-70-67-69
275 - Greg Owen (ENG) 72-67-71-65, Kevin Stadler 69-65-71-70
276
- Martin Flores 72-70-69-65, William McGirt 71-69-68-68, Henrik Stenson
(SWE) 72-66-70-68, Jeff Overton 67-72-68-69, Padraig Harrington (IRL)
68-68-71-69, Kevin Kisner 69-66-70-71
277 - Arjun Atwal (IND)
67-74-70-66, Woody Austin 72-68-67-70, Luke Guthrie 69-71-67-70, John
Daly 68-69-76-64, J.B. Holmes 70-64-72-71
278 - Duffy Waldorf 71-69-69-69, Bryce Molder 69-71-69-69, Martin Laird (SCO) 72-70-67-69