KAPALUA, Hawaii – Dustin Johnson disappeared into a small valley of bushes and high grass as he searched for another errant tee shot, this one costing him a double bogey and making the final round of the Tournament of Champions far more exciting than he needed it to be.
Undaunted by his mistakes or the thought of blowing a big lead, he blasted driver on the next hole despite the potential for more trouble. This one was pure, rolling back off the front of the green.
Johnson chipped in from 50 feet for eagle and he was on his way.
Such a wild sequence – double bogey-eagle – is par for the course for the big-hitting South Carolinian.
And it was only appropriate that this weird, windy start to the PGA Tour season would end Tuesday with such a wild ride. Johnson had a five-shot lead after seven holes. His lead was down to one stroke with five holes to play. He wound up closing with a 5-under-par 68 for a four-shot victory over defending champion Steve Stricker.
"It was nowhere near ho-hum," said Johnson, who finished at 16-under 203.
Nothing was.
The winners-only tournament didn't start until the fourth day because of wind gusts that topped 40 mph, forcing officials to shorten it to 54 holes. Once it finally got under way, it was over in 29 hours.
Perhaps it was only fitting that a tournament delayed by powerful winds was won by a guy who overpowered the Plantation Course at Kapalua.
It definitely got close out there today," Johnson said. "Sometimes I hit a couple of bad drives, but I was always able to bounce back and do what I needed to do to stay out front."
Johnson won for the sixth straight season since leaving college at Coastal Carolina, the longest streak since Tiger Woods won in 14 straight years. Only Phil Mickelson (nine) has a longer active streak of most consecutive years with a PGA Tour win.
Johnson also now has won the last three PGA Tour events reduced to 54 holes because of weather – rain at Pebble Beach in 2009, a hurricane at The Barclays in 2011 and gusts that topped 40 mph in Hawaii from a freak weather pattern that led to a bizarre season opener.
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