Dustin Johnson Runs Away with the 2020 Masters Tournament

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Augusta National Golf Club, Augusta, GA — November 13, 2020

As Day 3 finished at Augusta National Golf Club in the 2020 Master Tournament, the storylines developing for the final round set up for an interesting Sunday.

Dustin Johnson rose to the top of the leaderboard with a 7 under par 65 that included a 31 on the front nine. His -16 score for the week tied the best 54 hole total in Masters history. Johnson led by four strokes over Sungjae Im, Abraham Ancer, and Cameron Smith. The winner of the 2016 U.S. Open, Johnson came from behind that day for his only major championship victory. Four times Johnson has entered the final round of a major with the lead and four times he has failed to come away with the win. Will today be different?

Bryson DeChambeau came into the tournament the favorite, he struggled to make the cut and could not mount a Saturday charge. Tiger Woods fell out of contention with a 3rd round of even-par 72, he trailed the leader by 11 strokes. John Rahn, another favorite, started Saturday at 9 under and could improve on his score also shooting par in the day. Justin Thomas was a 2nd Round co-leader, he had five birdies on Saturday, but four bogies left him with a 71 and sitting six strokes behind Johnson.

The Final Round

Johnson, Im, and Ancer comprised the final group that teed off just before 10 am on the final day of the Masters Tournament. All three made par on the difficult first hole, Im birdied the par 5-2nd hole, and Johnson failed to convert. The lead dropped to 3.

Im birdied the 3rd hole, but Johnson came through with a birdie of his own. An important score for his confidence. Then the trouble everyone was looking for befuddled the leader. Johnson bogeyed the 4th and 5th holes while Im made pars, the lead was just a single stroke.

Ancer bogeyed 3 and 4, then followed that up with two more on 6 and 7. His slide down the leaderboard was matched by the rise of Cameron Smith who made four birdies combined with a bogey to move to 15 under at the turn.

Johnson Stops His Slide

Facing the 180-yard par 3-6th hole, Johnson had parred it during the first three rounds. He needed to put the brakes on and stop the slide. Johnson did so in championship style with a birdie and he was back to 16 under. Another birdie on the Par 5-8th hole and he moved to 17 under.

Bogies on 6 and 7 dropped Im back to four strokes out of the lead after 9 holes and allowed Smith to jump past, just two strokes behind Johnson.

The Final Nine

They say the Tournament really starts on the back nine on the final day. Certainly, the pressure ramps up to its highest intensity. This time Johnson was up to the task. He scored his first Masters win with a three-hole string of birdies on 13, 14, and 15, taking his score to -20, the lowest score in Masters history.

Dustin Johnson is congratulated by his caddie, his brother Austin, after winning The Masters. Photo Credit: AP / David J. Phillip

Smith, after his charge on the front nine, could only manage even-par on the backside on the final day at Augusta. Im rallied for two birdies on 13 and 15 to salvage a tie for 2nd with Smith who set a Masters record of his won. Cameron Smith became the first golfer in Masters history to score in the ’60s for all four rounds. And he lost by 5 strokes.

Cameron Smith at Augusta. Photo Credit / Getty Images

What About Tiger

After playing himself out of contention on Saturday, Tiger Woods was looking for a respectable finish to the week as he awaited the ceremony where he would present the green jacket to the winner.

The 12th hole has been the undoing of many a potential champion, just ask Jordan Speith. The par 3 is only 155 yards but is as lethal as a viper hiding in the weeds. Tiger put three balls in the water of Rae’s Creek bordering the front of the hole on the way to taking a 10 on the hole.

In a remarkable display of skill and perseverance, Tiger birdied 5 of the 6 closing holes to finish at 1 under for the tournament.

The 84th Masters Championship from Augusta National Golf Club

Position Player To Par Final Round R1 R2 R3 R4 Total
1 Dustin Johnson -20 -4 65 70 65 68 268
T2 Cameron Smith -15 -3 67 68 69 69 273
T2 Sungjae Im -15 -3 66 70 68 69 273
4 Justin Thomas -12 -2 66 69 71 70 276
T5 Rory McIlroy -11 -3 75 66 67 69 277
T5 Dylan Frittelli -11 E 65 73 67 72 277
T7 C.T. Pan -10 -4 70 66 74 68 278
T7 Brooks Koepka -10 -2 70 69 69 70 278
T7 Jon Rahm -10 -1 69 66 72 71 278
T10 Webb Simpson -9 -4 67 73 71 68 279
T10 Corey Conners -9 -3 74 65 71 69 279
T10 Patrick Reed -9 E 68 68 71 72 279
T13 Marc Leishman -8 -4 70 72 70 68 280
T13 Hideki Matsuyama -8 E 68 68 72 72 280
T13 Kevin Na -8 -2 73 68 69 70 280
T13 Abraham Ancer -8 4 68 67 69 76 280
T17 Xander Schauffele -7 -2 67 73 71 70 281
T17 Patrick Cantlay -7 E 70 66 73 72 281
T19 Scottie Scheffler -6 -1 71 68 72 71 282
T19 Cameron Champ -6 E 68 74 68 72 282
T19 Tommy Fleetwood -6 2 71 66 71 74 282
T19 Sebastian Munoz -6 3 70 68 69 75 282
T23 Louis Oosthuizen -5 -2 68 70 75 70 283
T23 Justin Rose -5 -2 67 70 76 70 283
T25 Danny Willett -4 1 71 66 74 73 284
T25 Charl Schwartzel -4 -1 73 71 69 71 284
T25 Shane Lowry -4 1 74 69 68 73 284
T25 Ian Poulter -4 -2 72 71 71 70 284
T29 Nick Taylor -3 E 72 72 69 72 285
T29 Bernhard Langer -3 -1 68 73 73 71 285
T29 Sung Kang -3 -2 75 69 71 70 285
T29 Rickie Fowler -3 -2 70 70 75 70 285
T29 Chez Reavie -3 -2 71 72 72 70 285
T34 Adam Scott -2 1 70 72 71 73 286
T34 Bryson DeChambeau -2 1 70 74 69 73 286
T34 Si Woo Kim -2 E 70 71 73 72 286
T34 Andy Ogletree (a) -2 E 73 70 71 72 286
T38 Lee Westwood -1 2 68 74 71 74 287
T38 Billy Horschel -1 3 70 70 72 75 287
T38 Tiger Woods -1 4 68 71 72 76 287
T38 Paul Casey -1 5 65 74 71 77 287
T38 Tony Finau -1 E 69 75 71 72 287
T38 Christiaan Bezuidenhout -1 -1 69 73 74 71 287
T44 Shugo Imahira E 2 72 70 72 74 288
T44 Collin Morikawa E 2 70 74 70 74 288
T46 Matt Wallace 1 5 69 73 70 77 289
T46 Charles Howell III 1 2 71 70 74 74 289
T46 Matthew Fitzpatrick 1 E 74 70 73 72 289
T46 Victor Perez 1 E 70 71 76 72 289
T46 Jordan Spieth 1 E 74 70 73 72 289
T51 Mike Weir 2 4 71 72 71 76 290
T51 Jazz Janewattananond 2 3 69 71 75 75 290
T51 Zach Johnson 2 1 73 71 73 73 290
T51 Rafael Cabrera Bello 2 E 73 71 74 72 290
T55 John Augenstein (a) 3 3 69 72 75 75 291
T55 Phil Mickelson 3 1 69 70 79 73 291
57 Bubba Watson 4 6 74 69 71 78 292
58 Bernd Wiesberger 6 1 71 72 78 73 294
59 Brandt Snedeker 7 2 71 71 79 74 295
60 Jimmy Walker 8 4 71 73 76 76 296
The following players failed to make the cut at E
Adam Hadwin CUT 74 71 145
Gary Woodland CUT 72 73 145
Graeme McDowell CUT 72 73 145
Byeong-Hun An CUT 72 73 145
Max Homa CUT 70 75 145
Andrew Putnam CUT 73 72 145
Matt Kuchar CUT 70 75 145
Henrik Stenson CUT 71 74 145
Justin Harding CUT 75 71 146
Brendon Todd CUT 73 73 146
Kevin Kisner CUT 71 76 147
Matthew Wolff CUT 70 77 147
Larry Mize CUT 70 77 147
Lanto Griffin CUT 74 73 147
Tyrrell Hatton CUT 73 74 147
J.T. Poston CUT 73 75 148
James Sugrue (a) CUT 77 71 148
Jason Kokrak CUT 71 77 148
Jason Day CUT 70 78 148
Tyler Duncan CUT 77 71 148
Francesco Molinari CUT 72 78 150
Fred Couples CUT 77 73 150
Lukas Michel (a) CUT 76 74 150
Sandy Lyle CUT 78 73 151
Nate Lashley CUT 75 76 151
Lucas Glover CUT 77 74 151
Yuxin Lin (a) CUT 79 73 152
Jose Maria Olazabal CUT 78 80 158
Andrew Landry CUT 78 82 160
Abel Gallegos (a) CUT 79 81 160
Erik van Rooyen WD 76 76
Vijay Singh WD 75 45 75