MEXICO CITY — Dustin Johnson arrived in Mexico trying to figure out what was wrong with his swing. He left Sunday night with his 20th career PGA Tour victory, his sixth World Golf Championship, and thoughts of how far that will take him.
Over 72 holes, only two were worse than par. No one got closer than two shots to him all weekend.
Johnson overcame a sloppy start, caught a good break from behind a tree and made the rest look easy, just like when he was on top of his game two years ago. He closed with a 5-under 66 for a five-shot victory over Rory McIlroy in the Mexico Championship.
“This is a big one for me, and it gives me a lot of confidence for the rest of the year,” Johnson said. “I feel like the game is in good form right now.”
Johnson became the 38th player in PGA Tour history with 20 victories, which makes him a lifetime member when he puts in 15 years.
He won on both sides of a four-week journey, which started with his victory in the Saudi International, and will return to No. 1 in the world next week.
McIlroy did all he could, making six birdies in a seven-hole stretch on the back nine, and closed with a 67.
“I was making birdies and going nowhere,” McIlroy said. “He just played great this week. Hats off.”
PGA: Martin Trainer won the Puerto Rico Open at Rio Grande for his first Tour title, closing with a 5-under 67 for a three-stroke victory over four players.
Making his 11th Tour start, Trainer birdied four of the last 10 holes to finish at 15-under 273.
“It’s obviously incredible,” Trainer said. “I never thought that I would be able to win on the PGA Tour. I managed do it today and that’s just incredible.”
Trainer, a 27-year-old former University of Southern California player, won twice last year on the Web.com Tour and finished fourth on the money list to earn a spot on the big tour.
“There comes a certain point where the pressure is like maxed out in your brain and you just do whatever you can to make contact and hit putts forward,” Trainer said. “At the end, I had no idea if my putts were going to go like 4 feet by or 4 feet short. You just have no feel, the pressure is just overwhelming you.”
LPGA: Amy Yang won the LPGA Thailand at Chonburi for the third time, holding off Minjee Lee by one stroke.
Yang, from South Korea, carded a final-round 65 and a 22-under-par 266 total for her fourth overall Tour win.
Despite lightning stopping play for 50 minutes and a rain delay later in the round, Yang emerged from a three-way tie with Lee and Carlota Ciganda with a birdie from the fringe of the green on the par-3 16th to regain the lead at 21 under.
“I was honestly very nervous, especially the last three holes,” said Yang, who also won the event in 2015 and 2017. “It was (a) tough hole to finish. I was really telling myself just (to) be patient, do (my) best at the time.
“I tried to stay calm and stayed patient out there. I just enjoy coming here. I love the golf course, which is why I always play well here.”
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