Welcome to the Monday Finish, where Dustin Johnson is the 20th player in history to become the world No. 1 golfer after his 13th PGA TOUR win. Here’s five observations from the Genesis Open, where the reigning PGA TOUR Player of the Year survived a marathon Sunday to take the trophy. FIVE OBSERVATIONS 1. Dustin Johnson is as athletic a golfer as we’ve ever seen with his raw power and strength now coupled with some deft touch. Just over a year ago, Johnson made a significant commitment to his wedge game, and as such, has become a much more well-rounded player, catapulting him all the way to the top of the world. At Riviera this week, the 2015-16 PGA TOUR Player of the Year added an impressive week with his putter, and the result was a demolition of the field. A new putter grip for the Genesis Open may have been the switch he needed as he gained nearly two shots a round on the field in putting. If Johnson can continue mixing up a great short game with his power, his reign at the top of the world rankings could be a long one. 2. It was only a matter of time for Johnson at Riviera. His record at the storied Los Angeles course was no doubt trending towards this victory and perhaps is a little kismet for the win to coincide with his trip to the top of the world rankings. In his 10 trips to the Genesis Open, Johnson now has a win, plus two seconds, a third, two fourths and a T10. For a long time, it appeared as if the tournament scoring record of 20-under was under threat. An impressive 14 of his last 16 rounds at Riviera have been under par for a scoring average of 67.9375 in the last four years. In his 36 career rounds, he averages 69.19. Impressive stuff. 3. Johnson has now won at least once in each of his opening 10 years on the PGA TOUR. It is a very impressive record. The only other players to do that? Jack Nicklaus, Arnold Palmer and Tiger Woods. It is exalted company for sure but Johnson has a long way to join the trio’s lifetime winning efforts. Johnson now has 13 TOUR wins, four in his last 14 starts since the U.S. Open last year. But Nicklaus (1962-78) and Palmer (1955-71) kept the streak going for a record 17 years each. Woods (1996-2009) managed 14 years. Woods has 79 TOUR victories to his name. Nicklaus has 73 wins, Palmer 62. 4. Jason Day certainly hasn’t played his best golf to start 2017 after taking three months off for back rehabilitation last year, but the Australian should be applauded for his impressive 47-week stint at the top of the world rankings. Since 1986, and the rankings birth, only 10 stints at the top have been longer, the last being Rory McIlroy’s 54-week run from Aug. 3, 2014 to Aug. 15, 2015. Day now has 51 career weeks at the top, putting him behind only Tiger Woods (683 weeks), Greg Norman (331 weeks), Nick Faldo (97 weeks), McIlroy (95 weeks), Seve Ballesteros (61 weeks) and Luke Donald (56 weeks). With Day, McIlroy, Henrik Stenson, Hideki Matsuyama and Jordan Spieth all close to Johnson on the current list, we have an exciting season ahead. 5. Justin Rose may not have won on the west-coast swing but the former U.S. Open winner was certainly impressive on the way to three top-4 finishes in four events. He was second to Justin Thomas at the Sony Open and T4 at both the Farmers Insurance Open and Genesis Open. Rose suffered with back issues late in 2016 and has now picked up a small thumb complaint, but if the Englishman can remain healthy heading into the majors, you get the feeling the 36-year-old could be a serious contender once more. The Olympic Gold Medalist has been inside the top 25 for the last six Masters tournaments, including a runner up finish in 2015. He’s certainly one to watch in the coming weeks. FIVE INSIGHTS 1. Dustin Johnson led the field for Strokes Gained: Off-the-Tee on the way to his victory, marking the 25th time he’s accomplished this feat on the PGA TOUR since 2008. Only Bubba Watson has led more events Off-the-Tee over this time frame (27 times). 2. Johnson was the only player in the field to average over 300 yards on all drives for the week. In fact, his 300.6 average driving distance was 22 yards longer than the field average and 8 yards longer than the second-longest player in the field (Adam Scott 292.4 yards). Johnson is just the fifth player in the ShotLink era to average over 300 yards off the tee (all drives) for a week at Riviera Country Club. 3. Johnson also hit a field leading 77.8 percent of the greens in regulation for the week, marking the fifth time he’s led the field for greens in regulation in a PGA TOUR event. Johnson’s average of 77.8 percent was nearly 20 percent better than the field average for the week (58.6 percent). 4. Entering the 2017 Genesis Open, Johnson ranked outside the top 100 in a number of putting stats on the PGA TOUR. However in Los Angeles he ranked inside the top 6 for Strokes Gained: Putting, Feet of putts made, putting inside 10 feet, and putting outside 20 feet. 5. Jason Day struggled with driving accuracy last year and it appears as if the problem remains in 2017. With just 22 of 56 fairways at Riviera Day ranked last of those players to make the cut. He is now ranked 200th on the TOUR this season at 51.26 percent. His 50.46 percent last season was a career low for the 29-year-old. Day has been shortening his swing in a bid to help the longevity of his back. TOP THREE VIDEOS 1. Cameron Tringale was in trouble on the famed 18th at Riviera Country Club after a wild drive and a forced lay-up. Then he did this. 2. It seems every time he plays we can say: Here’s Phil Mickelson being Phil. The 10th at Riviera can be diabolical for some. Not for Phil. 3. A press conference with Dustin Johnson can certainly make you giggle. There are some great laughs throughout here. Our fave sound bite starts around 10:20.
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