Dustin Johnson wins rain shortened AT&T Pebble Beach
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Bill Jempty | Monday, February 16, 2009 |
I was so looking forward to some Monday golf. From AP-
Some 40 hours after hitting his last shot, Dustin Johnson won the AT&T Pebble Beach National Pro-Am on Monday when rain created a small river through one fairway and flooded greens, forcing officials to cancel the final round.
Johnson built a four-shot lead Saturday with a 67 at Poppy Hills, holing a 7-foot birdie putt on the 18th hole that figured to give him a cushion going into the final round. But it was never played.
Rain and wind strong enough to topple a 40-foot tree suspended the final round Sunday, and nearly 1½ inches of rain and a forecast for more gloom along the Monterey Peninsula left the PGA Tour no choice but to declare Johnson the winner.
Johnson won at Turning Stone last year with birdies on the last two holes. This time, he won while on his way to breakfast.
Johnson, at 24 years and 7 months, is the youngest player to win the AT&T Pebble Beach National Pro-Am since Tiger Woods (24 years, 1 month) in 2000. With his victory, Johnson joins Anthony Kim as the only players under 25 with two PGA Tour victories.
Johnson’s two victories may be considered less than impressive by some. The AT&T was rain shortened and Turning Stone is a fall series event where very few of the leading players are in the field.
The win qualifies Johnson both for the upcoming Match Play Championship and The Masters.
Johnson finished at 15-under 201, the first 54-hole winner on the PGA Tour since Phil Mickelson won the BellSouth Classic outside Atlanta in 2005. That tournament concluded on a Monday.
This was the first time a 54-hole winner played his final shot on a Saturday since Pebble Beach in 1999, when Payne Stewart birdied his final hole for a one-shot lead. The final round was washed out Sunday and the tournament shortened because of a storm system that stretched from the California coast to the shores of Japan.
The weather conditions in Monterey can widely vary. Some years they can great weather, then there are years like this. In 1962 or 1963, snow fell on Pebble Beach during tournament week.
Two-time U.S. Open champion Retief Goosen finished alone in third.
Goosen’s US career has gone into a tailspin since he opened the final round of the 2005 US Open tied for the lead and with a chance of becoming a three-time winner of the tournament. Retief shot a 81 on Sunday. He has only won once on the PGA Tour since then. If he’s on his game, Goosen is a good pick at Augusta. Goosen has been second there twice, and third two more times.
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