Jon Rahm sinks a big pit to win playoffs at the BMW Championship

OLYMPIA FIELDS, Ill. – Even with so few people around, Jon Rahm could hear from across the Olympia Fields clubhouse that Dustin Johnson had made a 45-foot birdie on the last hole for a play-off on Sunday at the BMW – championship.

Resilient as ever, Rahm went out and made his own magic.

From one end of the 18th green to the other, Rahm & # 39; s putt of just over 20 yards rolled around the rim and into the cup, causing a loud roar that almost made up for it. there were no spectators.

"I knew how well DJ played," said Rahm. "I wasn't expecting anything else. I was confident it would get into a playoff and I hoped so Never thought I'd do another 50-60-footer, a few pauses in it, and finally win it. ”

Johnson could only laugh at his birdie putt, what a rare show of emotion – a slow, sweeping top cut. And he had the same reaction to what Rahm did. What else is there to do?

"I played an incredible putt, got into playoffs and after that Jon made an even more ridiculous putt on top of me, ”said Johnson, who finished second twice. and won in his last three starts.

The track that felt like a United States Open all week, delivered the sort of excitement typical of the Masters.

Rahm & # 39; s big birdie putt on the first extra hole saved him his third-round blunder when he got his ball on the fifth green without marking it, which led to a one-off penalty and his only bogey of the weekend.

He tore through nine Sundays on his way back to a six-under 64, the lowest round of the week, to finish in four-under 276.

Johnson, a leader with 54 holes for his third consecutive tournament and 11-shot Victory at the TPC last week Boston birdied three of its first four holes to open a three-shot lead, dropped a few shots around the corner and then delivered the clutch with his 45-foot birdie putt on the last hole for a 67.

It was only good enough to stay at No. 1 in the world rankings by a small margin.

He also remains No. 1 in the FedEx Cup to the Tour Championship, meaning he will begin the hunt for the $ 15 million bonus at 10-under par, two ahead of Rahm, the No. 2 seed.

Joaquin Niemann, the 21 year old from Chile, also had a tough run with a 67 and was in the lead to a bogey on the 14th and no birdies the rest of the way. He finished in third place with Hideki Matsuyama, who had a 69.

Tony Finau finished with a 65 and finished three behind. They were the only five below par at Olympia Fields.

Rahm won this year for the second time on the PGA Tour and the eleventh time in his career worldwide.

Mackenzie Hughes had reason to celebrate too.

He was about to make his way to the top 30 continuing to East Lake when he took a sloppy bogey on the 17th. Needing a par on the 18th, he set his approach in the front bunker, splashed to 5 feet and raised both arms as he fell.

Niemann also moved up to the top 30, although he spent all day chasing victory

Adam Long and Kevin Streelman were kicked out and Long suffered the worst of that fate. He was projected 30th in the FedEx Cup until Corey Conners three-putted from 5 feet for double bogey on the final hole. This allowed Billy Horschel to move up enough places on the scoreboard to move over Long to 30th and last place with three points.

The top 30 are guaranteed a spot in at least three majors next year, along with the Sentry Tournament of Champions in Kapalua to start the year. The winner-only event is that the top 30 in the FedEx Cup lost three months of the season to the Covid-19 pandemic.

Tiger Woods missed all the action. He made a double bogey on his 17th hole for a 71, making this the first time he was above par in all four rounds of a tournament since the Bridgestone Invitational in 2010.

Woods failed. for the Tour Championship for the second year in a row. He is now getting two weeks off from the U.S. Open at Winged Foot, and Olympia Fields turned out to be a good test for that.