Dustin Johnson wins Saudi International for first victory of 2019

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.

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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.

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.

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.