JON RAHM DRAINED a swinging 60-foot birdie putt at the first playoff hole Sunday to win the US PGA Tour BMW Championship over world number one Dustin Johnson.
Spain’s Rahm, ranked second in the world behind Johnson, was in the right rough off the tee at the first playoff hole, the 18th at Olympia Fields near Chicago.
His second shot rolled to the back of the green, leaving him what could have been a tough two-putt for par.
INCREDIBLE. 😱@DJohnsonPGA with a MUST-MAKE putt to force a playoff @BMWChamps.
— PGA TOUR (@PGATOUR) August 30, 2020
Never. A. Doubt.#QuickHits pic.twitter.com/u7ag0XNBDS
“Never did I think I’d be making another 50-, 60-footer — couple of breaks in there, too — to end up winning it,” said Rahm, who gave a roaring fist pump as the putt dropped.
Johnson’s tee shot was also off course, but ricocheted off a tree to settle in the fairway. The American found the middle of the green, but after Rahm’s miraculous birdie effort, Johnson’s birdie attempt settled inches from the cup.
Johnson had snaked in a 43-foot birdie at the same hole to force the playoff, joining Rahm on four-under par 276 in the second event of the US tour’s FedEx Cup playoffs.
66 FEET for the WIN! 🏆
— PGA TOUR (@PGATOUR) August 30, 2020
UNBELIEVABLE putt from @JonRahmPGA to claim @BMWChamps in a playoff! #QuickHits pic.twitter.com/DktJRjZLoj
Rahm had powered to the top of the leaderboard with six birdies in an impressive six-under par 64 — the lowest round of the week.
Johnson, seeking a second straight win and 23rd tour title, started the day tied for the lead with Hideki Matsuyama with Rahm three adrift.
He birdied three of his first four holes, but bogeys at eight and 10 saw him fall out of the lead before he picked up strokes at 15 and 18 to sign for a three-under 67.
Johnson’s solo second place means he’ll stay atop the rankings.
Rahm was tied for sixth starting the day after a third round marred by a bad mistake at the fifth hole, where he absentmindedly picked up his ball on the green without marking it and was assessed a penalty.
- ‘striping it’ -
He said it wasn’t hard to put the blunder behind him.
“Once I teed off today, in the good weather and how I started striping it the first few holes, I knew I had a chance,” said Rahm, who claimed his fifth tour title and his second in his last five starts.
Rahm had two birdies on the front side, but picked up the pace with a 16-foot birdie putt at the 10th. He followed that with a five-foot birdie at the 12th and a nine-footer at 15 before he rolled in a 30-foot birdie at 16.
He wasn’t surprised, however, to find himself in a playoff, and went straight to the range to keep warm with Johnson still on the course and just one back.
“Knowing DJ and how good he has been playing, I expected nothing else,” Rahm said.
Rising Chilean star Joaquin Niemann got off to a hot start with three birdies in his first five holes. A birdie at the eighth gave him a share of the lead, but he slowed with a bogey at 14 and finished with a 67 that left him tied for third on 278 alongside Matsuyama, who signed for a 69.
American Tony Finau was alone in fifth after a 65 for 279. Rory McIlroy finished tied for 12th on +3.
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I’d like to see Brian Kerr given another chance.A very positive forward thinking manager who still has the best win record for Ireland,is younger than O’Neill,and what he achieved with the Faroe Islands was phenomenal.Spend five minutes on Twitter and the Ipswich fans can’t wait to get rid of Mick.The word dinosaur seems to crop up a lot.For me Kerr who be a no brainer.
@Padraig: I think Kerr could have more of an impact given a remit at under age level, alongside Ruud Dokter. Or maybe even in charge of the under 21 team. It’s a real pity he’s gone completely unused.
I would miss Roy. I think he and Brian Kerr would be a good team.
@GARFARKLE: Roy over the senior and Kerr over the under 21s with a consulting role in the seniors, aiding with player transition to the senior side (even with an eye on the under 19s which looks like a hotbed at the moment). That would be great.
@EnKy: Good one. Thank you for expanding my point.
Bring back Mick
I wonder if Johnny Walters is only saying that because he’s gone from Stoke now, and he knows how detrimental MON is to the Irish team with his insistence, like Trappatoni’s, that the Irish players aren’t any good, and thus shouldn’t be allowed play football.
And finally:
Former Ireland boss Giovanni Trapattoni calls time on managerial career – after his wife said she’d ‘change the locks’ if he left again
https://www.irishmirror.ie/sport/soccer/soccer-news/giovanni-trapattoni-retire-ireland-team-11841576
I think the fai will go for McCarthy.
Yea,let’s clamber for O’Neill,he’s won so much for Ireland!
Need an extension on the trophy room.
Actually can’t believe w
@Gary O’Hanlon: can’t believe people want Roy Keane as a manager. He is clueless. Passion, desire, commitment that’s all he ever says.