Dustin Johnson captured his first victory of 2019 on Sunday when he won the inaugural Saudi International at Royal Greens Golf and Country Club by two strokes with a final score of 19-under 261 for the tournament.
Standing at 16-under through three rounds, including a 9-under 61 performance during Friday’s second round, the 34-year-old Johnson entered Sunday’s final round tied atop the leaderboard with Haotong Li. Saturday’s third round belonged to the 23-year-old Li, who nailed four eagles to finish with an 8-under 62 on the day.
But Sunday would belong to DJ, who would shoot a 3-under 67 in the final round to beat out Li by two shots. Ranked No. 3 in the world, Johnson’s final round consisted of five birdies and two bogeys.
His first birdie of the day came at the par-4 second hole, where DJ had finished with birdie for the entire tournament. However, Johnson opened up his back nine with a bogey at the par-4 10th hole, a hole at which he had birdied the previous two rounds.
But Johnson quickly rebounded with birdies at the par-3 11th and par-4 12th holes to regain control. The par-3 11th tee was another hole where Johnson finished with birdie in each of the four rounds.
Bounceback 🎯@DJohnsonPGA ties the lead in style.#SaudiIntGolf pic.twitter.com/dA4kHmb8cJ
— DP World Tour (@DPWorldTour) February 3, 2019
After bogeying the par-3 16th, DJ closed out his final round in fashion with a pair of birdies at the par-4 17th and par-5 18th holes to claim victory.
He's done it! 🏆@DJohnsonPGA wins the #SaudiIntlGolf! pic.twitter.com/1102Cey9yV
— DP World Tour (@DPWorldTour) February 3, 2019
Sunday’s victory was DJ’s first at a European Tour event since 2017, when he won the WGC-Mexico Championship by one shot over Tommy Fleetwood. However, it was DJ’s first win at a European Tour event outside of the majors and WGCs. Johnson hasn’t won on the PGA Tour since the RBC Canadian Open this past July.
