Dustin Johnson reigns supreme, wins FedExCup title

This is a year most of us would like to forget. Dustin Johnson isn’t like most of us.

The number one player in the world had a fitting end to one of his best seasons on tour, taking home $17.7 million in earnings over the past three weeks, $15 million of which came this week at the FedExCup’s Tour Championship.

Photo by Sam Greenwood/Getty Images

With the FedExCup victory, Johnson adds yet another accolade to his expanding list of career achievements. “I wanted to be a FedExCup champion, it was something in my career I would like to be and today I was able to,” said Johnson after the victory.

Johnson headed into the week with a two-shot lead based on his first-place standing in the FedExCup field—a cushion he would continue to build on throughout the week. After rounds of 67-70 and 64, Johnson had a commanding five-shot lead to begin the final round.

Photo by Kevin C. Cox/Getty Images

But no lead is a sure thing, especially in a tournament with a 45-million-dollar purse. “It’s a difficult golf course so no lead is really safe. I knew I had to come out and play really well,” said Johnson.

The pressure started up when DJ made consecutive bogeys on seven and eight, needing to successfully negotiate an eight-foot par putt on the ninth to stop the slide, which he did. After Schauffele made birdie on 12, the lead was trimmed to two, but Johnson once again proved clutch on the greens, making a 21-foot par save on 13 to reassert his three-shot lead. However, Schauffele wasn’t ready to concede the tournament, and made a valiant effort to keep things close, rolling in a lengthy birdie on 16 and needing to hole-out from 68 yards on 18 to have any shot at a playoff, which was dashed when Johnson cozied up his third to a few feet for birdie.

Johnson, who was denied his second straight victory last week at The BMW Championship by John Rahm’s playoff heroics, has undoubtedly been the best golfer in these playoffs—a validating performance for a player who has at times been labelled as an underachiever by the golf world. Johnson will be teeing it up next at The U.S. Open at Winged Foot, a course he has yet to play, taking place September 17 to 20.

 Cash Breakdown

The amount of money being handed out this week is downright eye-watering, so even those who didn’t quite get the job done are still a long way off from being considered losers. The mega-purse made for intriguing golf down the stretch, as each putt became worth a million bucks. Here’s the breakdown of the purse:

1st — $15 million
2nd — $5 million
3rd — $4 million
4th — $3 million
5th — $2.5 million
6th — $1.9 million
7th — $1.3 million
8th — $1.1 million
9th — $950,000
10th — $830,000
11th — $750,000
12th — $705,000
13th — $660,000
14th — $620,000
15th — $595,000
16th — $570,000
17th — $550,000
18th — $535,000
19th — $520,000
20th — $505,000
21st — $490,000
22nd — $478,000
23rd — $466,000
24th — $456,000
25th — $445,000
26th — $435,000
27th — $425,000
28th — $415,000
29th — $405,000
30th — $395,000

To see a complete list of the final standings, click here.

 Makenzie Hughes Making Moves

Mackenzie Hughes, the sole Canadian in the field, had a very respectable showing in his first-ever Tour Championship, finishing in 15th place. In addition to taking home a sizable payday, Hughes’ playing in the Tour Championship gains him entry into all four of next year’s majors, two WGC Championships, as well as The Sentry Tournament of Champions in Hawaii.

Photo by Sam Greenwood/Getty Images

What’s in the Bag?

Needless to say, these clubs have been pretty good to Dustin Johnson as of late.

Chris Condon/PGA TOUR via Getty Images

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One thought on “Dustin Johnson reigns supreme, wins FedExCup title”

  1. I agree that Dustin Johnson is playing some of his best golf right now,,,,,and the pay days for every player are fantastic, but a 10 shot advantage at the start of the tournament? Come on!!! I could never understand this format. If everyone started at even par, he would not have won this weekend. The 265 score would have won, Not Dustin’s score of 269. I’m so proud of what Mackenzie Hughes was able to accomplish. In reality, he only finished 3 shots back of Johnson and 7 shots behind the “actual” winner. A very admirable showing indeed.