Johnson wins Travelers Championship for 21st PGA Tour title
Dustin Johnson claimed his 21st PGA Tour title with a one-shot victory over Kevin Streelman at the Travelers Championship on Sunday.
Johnson faced a two-shot deficit heading into the final round, but he erased it with a 3-under 67 at TPC River Highlands. He made his first two birdies of the day on Nos. 5 and 6 to track down 54-hole leader Brendon Todd, who got off to a slow start. Johnson later carded three straight red numbers as he made the turn, extending his lead to two.
Then things got interesting.
After Todd made a triple-bogey to completely fall out of the race, Johnson made a costly mistake of his own and hit his tee shot out of bounds on the following hole. He went on to bogey the easy par-5 13th, where a birdie from Streelman shrank Johnson's three-shot lead to one.
A rebound birdie provided a cushion for Johnson, but he nearly put his tee shot into the water on the driveable par-4 15th. The 36-year-old took off his shoes and socks to play a shot from the pond but didn't have much success. He made par before play was briefly suspended due to inclement weather.
The roller coaster continued out of the break when Johnson found the greenside bunker on 16 and failed to get up and down. His lead was back down to one with two holes remaining.
With two closing pars capped by a massive 351-yard drive on No. 18, Johnson hung on for the narrow victory. He now owns at least one title in 13 straight PGA Tour seasons. It's the longest such streak by any golfer besides Jack Nicklaus, Tiger Woods, and Arnold Palmer.
The result is also Johnson's best since the 2019 PGA Championship.
"It was definitely strange playing with no fans, but you still can feel the pressure, you still can feel how important a golf tournament it is, and you're coming down the stretch, to me it felt the same, whether it was a million fans or zero," Johnson said after the win.
Here's how the top of the leaderboard finished:
| Place | Player | To Par | R4 Score |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Dustin Johnson | -19 | 67 |
| 2 | Kevin Streelman | -18 | 67 |
| T3 | Will Gordon | -17 | 64 |
| T3 | Mackenzie Hughes | -17 | 67 |
| 5 | Kevin Na | -16 | 67 |
Canadian Mackenzie Hughes closed his round by draining two lengthy birdie putts to climb into a tie for third. His 3-under 67 capped another stellar week for the 29-year-old, who recorded a top-three finish at the Honda Classic four starts ago.
Playing the Travelers Championship on a sponsor's invite, Will Gordon secured a special temporary membership for the remainder of the PGA Tour season with his top-three showing. The 23-year-old can now receive unlimited sponsor's invites for the rest of 2019-20.
After holding the 36-hole lead, Phil Mickelson closed the event with back-to-back 71s to finish in a tie for 21st.
The PGA Tour now heads to Detroit Golf Club for next week's Rocket Mortgage Classic.