Throwback Thursday: DJ begins record-equalling year at World No. 1
Dustin Johnson became just the 20th different player to reach world number one last year at Riviera
The Background
After a career of near misses and controversy off the course, Dustin Johnson stood on the edge of golfing royalty ahead of the 2017 Genesis Open.
DJ had climbed to 3rd in the world rankings after breaking his major duck in 2016 at the US Open and following a purple patch at the start of the 2017 season.
The Scene
The American started with two rounds of 66 to make a fantastic start to the tournament. A phenomenal third round of 64, which he finished Sunday morning, gave him a five shot lead heading into the final round.
Johnson went 49 holes without making a bogey with his run ending on the 9th hole during the final round. He strolled home with a round of 71 and his winning margin was five shots over Thomas Pieters and Scott Brown.
His victory meant that he climbed above Jason Day to become the No. 1 player in the world.
The Legacy
#OWGR upside story:@DJohnsonPGA just completed a full calendar year at No.1 in the world. He grabbed the #OWGR crown after winning the @genesisopen last year and never lost it since.
Only 5 golfers have ever achieved this feat:
Woods, Norman, Faldo, McIlroy and now DJ.— Nosferatu (@VC606) February 13, 2018
Johnson has now been World No. 1 for a full calendar year, a feat that had only been completed by four other golfers. Nick Faldo, Greg Norman, Rory McIlroy and, of course, Tiger Woods have all held the position for 52 weeks or longer.
As it stands Jon Rahm is the closest to Johnson in the official world rankings and is a major threat to DJ’s reign following the Spaniard’s success on tour during his short career so far.
Would you pay the extortionate Pebble Beach green fees?
Can we please stop playing the Open at St Andrews all the time?
If I wanted your advice, I would ask for it
Matthew Beedle
Matthew has been playing golf since he was around 13 and took up the game at a local nine-hole municipal course with his friends before joining Pontefract & District Golf Club just over the hedge.
Still a member of Pontefract with a handicap of 3, he currently sits on the board of directors to help with digital and marketing initiatives in order to improve membership and visitor income.
Matthew graduated university with a First Class in Sports Journalism from Leeds Trinity University and has been working in the golf industry since graduating.
NCG’s social media & marketing manager, Matthew’s main job role is to increase website traffic to the National Club Golfer website via our email and social media channels as well as driving entries to grow our NCG Top 100s Tour events amongst other tasks.
Not one to change his equipment too often, Matthew currently plays the TaylorMade M2 driver which has lasted the test of time in his bag. Elsewhere, you’ll find him using the TaylorMade Stealth 2 three-wood with a Ping G425 Crossover 2-iron to aid his long game.
Through his 4-iron to Gap Wedge, Matthew uses the Ping i500 irons accompanied by Ping’s Glide 3.0 56-degree and 60-degree wedges.
Another club that has stood the test of time in his bag is a Nike Method Core MC-3i putter which has had to have the SuperStroke grip changed at least three times. Ball of choice is the Titleist ProV1.
