Zach Johnson fired a six-under-par 65 for the final round to win the BMW Championship at Conway Farms on Monday.
Zach Johnson celebrates victory at Conway Farms
Johnson, who produced a flawless final round, finished the championship on 16 under par, which was two strokes clear of Nick Watney. It was the 10th win of Johnson's career, now in its 10th year, and first this season.
"It's extremely difficult," Johnson said trying to explain what the 10 wins meant.
"I'm not sure I fully grasp it. The parity on the TOUR and in the world is second to none. I'm just thankful it has been 10 years, and hopefully many more," added Johnson, who is now in a position to win the FedEx Cup.
Johnson started his round well when he made a birdie at the par-three second.
The former US Masters champion then followed that up with consecutive birdies at the seventh and eighth holes, which would have boosted his confidence quite significantly ahead of the walk home. He started the back nine quietly but made birdie at the twelfth.
Critically though, the American was not dropping any shots during that period.
Consecutive birdies at holes 16 and 17 meant that Jim Furyk, who was in the last group for the day, had produce some late heroics of his own if he harboured any aspirations of winning the tournament.
Before starting the back nine Furyk was still in a position to win this tournament, which was the last of the play-off events in the FedEx Cup. The former US Open champion made a solitary birdie on the front nine.
However, he didn't drop any shots during that period, which was quite crucial under the circumstances. Furyk also started his back nine well after making birdie at the tenth hole.
However, this was followed by a mass capitulation over the next six holes, where he dropped three shots. This was another opportunity lost for the American veteran, who eventually finished three strokes off the pace.
Watney, who was finished second on 14 under par, made an impressive final charge on Monday and gave himself every opportunity of stealing an unlikely win.
Watney carded a seven-under-par 64 for the final round, which could have been even better had he not dropped a shot at the par-five eighth.
Nevertheless Watney carded three consecutive birdies at the start of the round and followed that up with three consecutive birdies on the back nine. Watney made additional birdies at the seventh and 17th holes.
The pressure was on to exploit the par-five 18th hole. However, he could only manage par at the end of his round. There was a string of golfers on eleven under par for the championship.
That group included Steve Stricker, Jason Day (who has come agonizingly close the entire season), Luke Donald and Hunter Mahan. However, none of them were a factor during the final round...sadly.
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