The PGA season has come to an end. Dustin Johnson walked away as the winner of the Tour Championship and FedEx Cup over Labor Day weekend. As the winner, he pocketed $15 million.
Golf was one of the first sports to make a return amid the concerns related to COVID-19. Empty galleries weren’t ideal, but having these guys play was better than nothing.
Johnson was one of the hottest golfers of late. He was in first in the FedEx Cup standings entering the Tour Championship and started at -10.
“This is a difficult golf course, so no lead is really safe,” Johnson said. “I knew I was going to have to come out and play really well. I hit the fairways when I needed to coming down the stretch. The guys gave me a good fight today.”
He was able to bounce back after playing some bad golf, most recently at the Memorial. Johnson now has 23 wins on the PGA Tour.
“He was grinding his (butt) off. He was putting so bad and playing so bad. But he never gave up. He wasn’t quitting. He was just trying to figure it out there, and he couldn’t find it again the next week, and then next you know, he’s the FedEx Cup champion and running away,” said Justin Thomas.
Others in the Field
Entering the playoffs, Thomas was the favorite and led in FedExCup points. He ended up falling victim to Johnson’s hot streak.
He was still able to tie for second place with Xander Schauffele. Without the handicap, Schauffele was the winner of the weekend. He was nailing putts at the Tour Championship and shot 15-under par.
Both of the second-place finishers walked away with $4.5 million each.
Jon Rahm came into this tournament right behind Johnson and was coming off a win at the BMW Championship. In that tournament, he was able to get the best of Johnson in the playoff hole.
However, he ended up finishing in fourth place, earning him $3 million.
Looking Ahead
There isn’t too much time to celebrate with the U.S. Open just around the corner. It starts on Sept. 17 at Winged Foot.
This course is going to provide a true U.S. Open, with golfers struggling to get under par. Some of the players have commented on how tough this course might play.
“All I can say is, it’s a heck of a golf course,” Rahm said. “The greens gave me an Oakmont vibe: extremely difficult, extremely undulated. Sixteen of the 18 greens are sloped back to front. There’s always a run-up on the front. At least it seems a little more fair than Oakmont might look.”
The previous winner at Oakmont shot a 5-over, which ties the last winner at Winged Foot. If these greens get as firm as they want them to be, we might see another high score winning the weekend.
It was a great season and entertaining playoffs, even if it was without fans. But now, it’s time for them to tee it up once again.