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Tour Mash: Dustin Johnson Overpowers Spieth in Northern Trust Playoff

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The PGA Tour began its playoff season on Long Island, while the Web.com Tour concluded its regular season in Washington state. The LPGA Tour returned to individual competition at the Canadian Pacific Open, while the European and Champions tours marched toward their playoff seasons. August bids farewell with a healthy mash of golfing excellence. Read on!

PGA Tour: FedEx Cup Playoffs begin with a Johnson win at The Northern Trust

Dustin Johnson made an inconceivable putt on the 72nd hole to save par and remain even with Jordan Spieth. He hit an implausible tee ball over water, sand, fire, you name it, on the day’s only playoff hole. It was Johnson’s wedge game, the facet that brought him from top-20 golfer to world No. 1, that earned him the win in the first FedEx Cup playoff event.

After his cannon shot returned to Earth on the first playoff hole, Johnson was left with less than 100 yards to the green. He stuffed a wedge in tight, and then watched as Spieth had the speed, but not the aim, on his birdie putt. After the Texan tapped in for par, Johnson’s 3-footer went in the center, and his 16th career title was secured.

Spieth had a three-shot lead over the 2016 U.S. Open champ when the day began, and he started well with two birdies in his first five holes. One of those errors that has caused many to question Spieth’s swing happened on the sixth hole. Spieth chunk-dunked his tee ball on the watery par-3, made double, and followed it with a bogey three holes later. Like that, his lead was gone.

Related: Dustin Johnson’s Winning WITB

LPGA Tour: A Walk for Park at the Canadian Pacific Women’s Open

Mo Martin and Nicole Broch Larsen began Sunday of Canada’s National Open Championship in a tie for first. They learned that scores around even par get passed. Unable to muster any Sunday momentum, both golfers dropped from contention.

Replacing them at the top of the leaderboard were Koreans Mirim Lee and Sung Hyun Park. Lee had a volatile round, countering three bogeys with two birdies and two eagles. Lee was able to move up two spots on Sunday, from fourth to second, courtesy of her closing 68. Park was better. She marked seven birdies and zero bogeys on her card on Sunday, and moved all the way from a tie for 12th to the winner’s seat.

The victory, paired with her July win at the U.S. Open, made Park the queen of North America. She moved into the fouth spot on the Race to CME Globe chase. Canadian Brooke Henderson hoped to rally on Sunday and give her fans a homebred hero, but her closing 71 dropped her to a tie for 12th.

European Tour: Made In Denmark Open is Suri’s 1st Big Win

The American on everyone’s radar this week was John Daly. The two-time major winner and denizen of the Champions Tour had played himself into contention. JD would ultimately finish tied for the 10th spot, but it was another U.S. golfer who would steal the show and the title.

Julian Suri was paired with third-round leader David Horsey, and he served notice early on that he would figure in the outcome. Suri birdied five holes on the outward half, turning in 31. Horsey recovered from a first-hole bogey to add five birdies on the day, and he came to the 18th hole one back of Suri.

On the day’s final fairway, Horsey came undone. He made triple bogey when he needed birdie, finishing second to Suri and his Sunday 64. The victory was Suri’s first on the European Tour.

Web.com Tour: Garnett Wins for 2nd Time in 2017 at Portland Open

Two resolutions took place over the last hour of the Portland Open. Brice Garnett separated himself from the field, with birdies on each of the odd-numbered holes on the inward half, plus one more at the 18th. His four-stroke victory was his second of the 2017 campaign, and his fifth top-10 finish of the year. Garnett, along with 24 others, secured PGA Tour cards for the 2017-18 season.

In the same pairing, Keith Mitchell could not catch a break on his last few holes. Needing one more birdie to earn his PGA Tour card, Mitchell left a birdie putt on the edge of the 17th hole, then missed his second shot left on the par-five 18th and could not get up and down for the stroke he needed. Mitchell finished tied for sixth, one stroke shy of his card. To make matters worse, Mitchell revealed in a post-round interview that sources on the final tee told him he needed eagle, not birdie, on the final hole.

For Garnett, the win moved him to the top spot on the money list and affirmed the quality of his game, giving him momentum as the Web.com Tour Finals begin. For Mitchell, the Finals give him another opportunity to earn a PGA Tour card.

Related: See The 25 Newest PGA Tour Members

Champions Tour: Kelly Claims 1st Win at Boeing Classic

Jerry Kelly could not have found two more dissimilar pursuers in his chase for an inaugural Champions Tour victory. Jerry Smith had zero regular-tour wins to his credit, but his final-round 64 brought him to 18-under par, good for second place. On Smith’s heels was that guy who shows up every week, Bernhard Langer. The great German champion went out in 4-under, came home in 3-under, and finished in a tie for third with Billy Mayfair.

It was Kelly who exorcised a few demons this Sunday in Snoqualmie. He made no mistakes on his outward half, but his two birdies gave hope to the Smiths and the Langers. Kelly found that extra gear that leads to trophies on the inward half. He added four birdies for 66, and escaped The Club at Snoqualmie Ridge with a one-shot win over Smith.

The victory brought Kelly to 11th on the Schwab Cup list, while Langer further secured his hold on the top spot. Smith moved from 43rd to 30th with his runner-up finish.

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Ronald Montesano writes for GolfWRX.com from western New York. He dabbles in coaching golf and teaching Spanish, in addition to scribbling columns on all aspects of golf, from apparel to architecture, from equipment to travel. Follow Ronald on Twitter at @buffalogolfer.

7 Comments

7 Comments

  1. Sean

    Aug 29, 2017 at 5:20 pm

    Johnson didn’t “overpower” Spieth. Spieth admitted afterwards that he should have hit his tee shot over the pond…which he did during the practice rounds…and said he simply made a poor choice by not doing so.

  2. mn

    Aug 29, 2017 at 2:29 am

    Spieth choked and lost a big lead. But as far as the playoff hole goes, it pretty much sums up the entire difference between Speith and DJ. DJ’s drive was notable, but the second shots were really telling – Jordan spent half an hour talking it out with his caddie, wiped down his club, rechecked the yardage, backed off, talked some more, then hit a mediocre shot. 30 seconds later DJ hit a wedge to two feet. Speith needs to get out of his head and just play golf.

  3. Rex

    Aug 28, 2017 at 7:06 pm

    So glad DJ won. I’m so over Spieth and how he wins. He skanks it around and the drops 20 foot putts. Does everyone like him on here?

    • nyguy

      Aug 30, 2017 at 6:40 pm

      I feel the same way, and yes it seems like alot of people on GOLFwrx love “YJS”, as you’ll see in the forums, LOL

  4. Tom54

    Aug 28, 2017 at 12:49 pm

    That was a very exciting final round. You had two of the games best battling it out till the end. DJ clearly outplayed Speith down the stretch finally making some putts when it counted. Golf has plenty of young stars and it was nice seeing two of its best showing us their best. Hope the rest of the playoffs have some more match ups like these

  5. Northwestgolfer

    Aug 28, 2017 at 11:40 am

    Web.com Tour played in North Plains, Oregon, not in Washington state.

  6. Peter Schmitt

    Aug 28, 2017 at 9:08 am

    When DJ hit that drive on the playoff hole, I heard Bill Raftery blurt out “ONIONS!!” in my head. Takes some major cojones to hit one on that line in that situation. Mad respect, DJ!

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Photos from the 2024 Barracuda Championship

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GolfWRX is on site this week for the PGA Tour’s only Modified Stableford event, the Barracuda Championship.

We have plenty of galleries from Truckee, California, assembled for your viewing pleasure, so let’s get to it.

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Photos from the 2024 ISCO Championship

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GolfWRX is staying stateside, traveling to Kentucky for the ISCO Championship at Keene Trace Golf Club in Nicholasville, Kentucky.

WITBs and custom putters are here for the viewing, including some very cool looks into the bags of some players whose setups we haven’t had the pleasure of shooting so far in 2024.

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Photos from the 2024 John Deere Classic

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GolfWRX is on site this week at the 2024 John Deere Classic. With the Scottish Open next week and The Open Championship two weeks away, those who have qualified will be looking to shore up their games in Silvis, Illinois, before heading to European shores.

On the equipment front, we spotted some new SuperStroke x Marvel grips and got an in-hand look at impressive custom Scotty Cameron putters. Our WITB galleries already feature a look at Jason Day’s wares, and general complement the spread.

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