Sometimes golf can be extraordinarily predictable.
Dustin Johnson made it that way on Sunday afternoon at the Canadian Open.
The world’s No. 1 player started the final round at Glen Abbey tied with Kevin Tway, Ben An and Whee Kim at 17-under par.
He blew those guys right out of the tub from the get-go with birdies on his first two holes to start a rain-delayed march to his 19th win on the PGA Tour and his third this season.
D.J. was three-under through his first eight holes when lightning storms in the area caused a two-hour delay. All that did was slow down the inevitable.
When play resumed, Johnson would birdie the 11th to get to 21-under and went into cruise control. He birdied all three par fives on the back. At the 18th, he launched a 369-yard drive, hit pitching wedge from 147 and nearly made eagle to finish his day. He tapped in for his seventh birdie of the round and 66 to win by three. His only blemish came at the par three 12th when he came up a bit short and missed from seven feet for par.
Kim and An couldn’t keep up. They shot 69s to tie for second at 20-under and Tway was never a factor. He shot 76 and dropped into a tie for 17th.
“It means a lot to me,” Johnson said as he walked off the 72nd hole, tightening his grip on that No. 1 ranking. “It’s the last time we’re here at Glen Abbey. I had a lot of fans out here thanks to Wayne (Gretzky) and I thank them for their support. It takes a lot of work and I have a great family and a great team behind me.”
Johnson now heads for the final WGC event of the season — the WGC Bridgestone at Firestone Country Club where Tiger Woods is back in the field then he’ll most likely be the favorite heading into the season’s final major — the PGA Championship — in two weeks at Bellerive.
