Johnson claims world number one ranking with Riviera win
ByReuters
Published 20/02/2017 at 01:22 GMT
Feb 19 (Reuters) - Dustin Johnson secured the world number one ranking in style when he smoked the field for a five-stroke victory at the Genesis Open in southern California on Sunday.
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With the victory, American Johnson jumps from third to first in the world rankings, supplanting Australian Jason Day.
Johnson started the final round with a five-shot lead and was never headed after birdies at the first two holes en route to a closing 71 on the storied Riviera course.
Despite two late bogeys, he finished at 17-under-par 267, with Thomas Pieters (63) of Belgium and American Scott Brown (67) a distant second on 12-under in the event formerly named the Los Angeles Open.
Johnson, 32, collects $1.26 million for his 13th PGA Tour victory. He has won at least once every year since joining the tour in 2008, the longest active streak.
The reigning U.S. Open champion joins Arnold Palmer, Jack Nicklaus and Tiger Woods in winning every year for at least a decade after starting on the tour.
Palmer and Nicklaus both won their first 17 seasons, while Woods notched 14 straight seasons with a win.
The leaders played 36 holes on Sunday to make up for Friday's near washout, when the area was lashed by a strong winter storm. (Reporting by Andrew Both in Cary, North Carolina; Editing by Gene Cherry)
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