Two real beasts, in a good way and referring to golf. That is what Dustin Johnson and Jon Rahm are, number one and now fourteenth, respectively, in the world ranking. Johnson has almost no name, with his three consecutive victories, the last two in two World Championships, but the exploits of the 22-year-old Basque, who turned professional last June, are also difficult to categorize. The last of their duels, in the World Match Play Championship held in Austin, Texas, was won again by the American, who became the first and only player to have won all four tournaments in the World Golf Championships series. He also joined his compatriot Tiger Woods as the only players to have won two events of this type in a row.
Rahm would have become the youngest player to win the tournament if luck had smiled on him a little, especially on the last hole, when he could have forced a playoff. Rahm’s comeback fell short when he failed to make a birdie on the 18th hole, which the American took advantage of to seal his victory, , by one up.
Johnson, the reigning U.S. Open champion, won the WGC HSBC Championships in 2013, the WGC Cadillac Championship in 2015, the WGC Bridgestone Invitational in 2016 and the WGC Mexico Championship earlier this month.
Johnson’s last two WGC wins follow a victory at the Genesis Open at Riviera in February, which propelled the American to the top of the PGA Tour.
The victory capped a week of clear dominance by Johnson, who always looked confident in the seven match plays that led to the victory.
The American led the final since winning four holes in a row, while an increasingly frustrated Rahm struggled with the putter.
However, Rahm held his nerve after falling 5 under when Johnson won the eighth with a par.
Then, the young Spaniard won the 13th, 15th and 16th holes with birdies, but went to the 18th hole with Johnson one up.
Johnson also had a win by one over Japan’s Hideto Tanihara in the semifinals on Sunday morning.
Rahm defeated Bill Haas 3-2 in the semifinals, and Haas beat Tanihara 2-1 in the final for third place.
Tanihara joined Toru Taniguchi as the only two players from Asia to reach the semifinals of the event, and finished an outstanding week with a Masters berth.
Rahm, despite his youth, has consolidated his worldwide fame after his victory in the Farmer Insurante Open in February and then finishing third in the Mexico tournament, with 272 strokes (-12), a few weeks ago.
The Spaniard even led the event ahead of Johnson but the victory slipped away due to two consecutive bogeys on the 16th and 17th holes.
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