Dustin Johnson Wins The Masters

Last updated on: November 15, 2020 at 10:56 pm by Kermit Zarley

Dustin Johnson Wins The Masters 2020-11-15T22:56:47-07:00 Kermit Zarley

LOGO Patheos Explore the world's faith through different perspectives on religion and spirituality! Patheos has the views of the prevalent religions and spiritualities of the world.

Dustin Johnson proved today that he is indeed the world’s #1 pro golfer by shooting a final round 68, four-under par, to win the Masters by five strokes. And he set an all-time scoring record in doing so with a total score of 268, twenty-under par. Thus, he beat the record of eighteen-under par 270 first set by Tiger Woods in 1997 and tied by Jordan Spieth in 2015.

It was Johnson’s 24th win on the PGA Tour and his second major win. The other was the U.S. Open at Oakmont in 2016. Until then, long-hitting Dustin Johnson had a record of being such a great player, but not winning any of golf’s four major championships, which is the main measure of greatness in professional golf. Not only that, prior to that 2016 Open win, Johnson had led or shared the lead in four majors without winning. So, it looked like maybe he was prone to folding under the pressure in golf’s biggest events. However, one of those, the PGA Championship, he lost due to a really unfortunate, if not unjust, penalty on the last hole. And in another, the U.S. Open at Pebble Beach, he just messed up the last day with a big number. I know how it feels (1972 Open, there, I led with 12 holes to play and shot 79).

But Dustin Johnson is now really establishing himself as one of pro golf’s greatest players. When this guy wins, sometimes its by a bunch of strokes. With a four-stroke lead starting the day today, it looked like it might be one of those days. But Dustin bogeyed the 4th and 5th holes to be two-over par for the day and leading only by two strokes. But that’s as close as anybody ever got to him. So, hats off to Dustin Johnson for winning his second major.

Not so for the great Tiger Woods, who has fifteen major wins. As defending champion, he later performed Masters tradition by putting the Masters green coat on Dustin Johnson. Johnson said afterwards about the jacket, “Having Tiger put it on was awesome. You wouldn’t want it any other way.” Then he smiled and added, “But any guy could have put it on, and I’d be just fine.” That’s cool!

I say “not so” for Tiger since the last two days it looked like he was walking very carefully like a kitten, and bending down very slowly to tee up his ball or get it out of the cup. It’s because the Tiger sometimes feels like a kitten due to his bad low back, which has undergone four surgeries. Yet Tiger was five-under par for the tournament today, about in 12th place, when he reached the little par-three 12th hole. It then became a fight between a tiger and lion since Rae’s Creek that borders the front of that narrow, sideways green has gobbled up so many balls struck by these elite pros during Masters week.

The main problem on August National’s 12th hole is the tricky wind when it blows. And the wind was kicking up today. The landscape around there is sort of shaped like an amphitheater, with the trees on the hillside behind the green making it worse. The wind can swirl around and change directions while your ball is in the air. (I’ve had it happen to me.) Tiger explained afterwards that that is indeed what happened to him as his tee shot hit the sloping bank short of the green and rolled backwards into the water.

From there, it just got a lot worse. Tiger hit a total of three balls in that water to finish the hole with a ten. I’m sure that was Tiger’s highest score on a single hole in the professional golf career. When you see a high number like that on a pro’s scorecard, you’d expect that it was on a par five. Thus, Tiger’s ten on the 12th was seven-over par. But from there, the Tiger redeemed himself as he shot five under par the next, and last, six holes.

Dustin Johnson is as stoic and unperturbed as a golfer playing championship golf. But after play today, he surprisingly teared up when he reminisced how he grew up in North Carolina, only a hundred miles from Augusta National Golf Club, always dreaming as a kid playing golf about someday winning the Masters. The only thing missing this perfect story was the missing “patrons,” as they are called at the Masters, meaning the golf fans, due to the restriction on the PGA Tour of no, or very few fans, because of COVID.

Golf

Dustin Johnson

Tiger Woods

Previous Post

November 13, 2020

Polls Aren't Perfect

Next Post

November 16, 2020 Boy Scouts Corruption

Browse Our Archives

Select a Category Angels Billy Graham Blog Description Book Reviews Christian Living Christianity Christology Church History Current Events Deity of Christ? Disarmament Eschatology Evangelicalism Ezekiel 38-39 Film Reviews God Golf Gospel Harmonization Health History Holy Spirit Incarnation? Interview Islam Israeli-Palestinian Conflict Jesus Last Empire Literary Announcements Major Championship Winners Masters Monotheism My Books New Testament Old Testament Politics Primitive Weapons Ryder Cup Science Society of Biblical Literature The Bible The Restitution of Jesus Christ Trinitarianism Trinity? Uncategorized Unconditional Love? War on Terrorism

Select a Month October 2026 September 2026 August 2026 July 2026 June 2026 May 2026 April 2026 March 2026 February 2026 January 2026 December 2025 November 2025 October 2025 September 2025 August 2025 July 2025 June 2025 May 2025 April 2025 March 2025 February 2025 January 2025 December 2024 November 2024 October 2024 September 2024 August 2024 July 2024 June 2024 May 2024 April 2024 March 2024 February 2024 January 2024 December 2023 November 2023 October 2023 September 2023 August 2023 July 2023 June 2023 May 2023 April 2023 March 2023 February 2023 January 2023 December 2022 November 2022 October 2022 September 2022 August 2022 July 2022 June 2022 May 2022 April 2022 March 2022 February 2022 January 2022 December 2021 November 2021 October 2021 September 2021 August 2021 July 2021 June 2021 May 2021 April 2021 March 2021 February 2021 January 2021 December 2020 November 2020 October 2020 September 2020 August 2020 July 2020 June 2020 May 2020 April 2020 March 2020 February 2020 January 2020 December 2019 November 2019 October 2019 September 2019 August 2019 July 2019 June 2019 May 2019 April 2019 March 2019 February 2019 January 2019 December 2018 November 2018 October 2018 September 2018 August 2018 July 2018 June 2018 May 2018 April 2018 March 2018 February 2018 January 2018 December 2017 November 2017 October 2017 September 2017 August 2017 July 2017 June 2017 May 2017 April 2017 March 2017 February 2017 January 2017 December 2016 November 2016 October 2016 September 2016 August 2016 July 2016 June 2016 May 2016 April 2016 March 2016 February 2016 January 2016 December 2015 November 2015 October 2015 September 2015 August 2015 July 2015 June 2015 May 2015 April 2015 March 2015 February 2015 January 2015 December 2014 November 2014 October 2014 September 2014 July 2014 June 2014 May 2014 April 2014 March 2014 February 2014 January 2014 December 2013 November 2013 October 2013 September 2013 August 2013 July 2013 June 2013 May 2013 April 2013

TAKE THE

Religious Wisdom Quiz

What was the name of the sea Jesus walked on?

Select your answer to see how you score.

Dead Sea Red Sea Sea of Galilee Caspian Sea

Books by This Author Books by Kermit Zarley Blog

See All Titles »