The world’s number one golfer, Dustin Johnson, handily held off some of the sport’s biggest names making last minute pushes to claim the Saudi International golf title at the Royal Greens Golf and Country Club.
The 6’4″, 36 year-old from South Carolina flashed some of the same jaw-dropping drives and touch around the greens in Saudi Arabia that recently won him the 2020 Master’s title and helped propel him to the top of the golfing world. Johnson won by two strokes, beating out Tony Finau and Justin Rose by two strokes with consistent play in the final round on a perfect day at the King Abdullah Economic City.
Dustin Johnson won the Saudi International powered by SoftBank investment advisors by two strokes.
The win is Johnson’s fifth in the last eight months.
The other winner over the weekend was the sport of golf in Saudi Arabia. Organizers had the Royal Greens Golf and Country Club, with several holes seated next to the pristine turquoise blue Red Sea, looking like a world-class golf course. Millions worldwide saw rare glimpses of the surrounding coastline with aerial shots provided by Saudi Aramco. After the event, Golf Saudi announced a number of new programs connected to The Social Agenda, part of the newly-launched National Sustainability Strategy (NSS).
Johnson, who has one the Saudi International once before and placed second last year, described his mindset as he held on to win decisively on Sunday to Sky Sports.
“I saw the leaderboard a little bit; the guys were playing well, but I kept giving myself a lot of chances,” Johnson told Sky Sports. “I didn’t hole many of them but finally holed a really nice putt on 13…Seventeen was a really nice birdie, hit a great drive there and a nice little chip, but it was tough all day today,” Johnson said.
“I don’t get to play around the world as much as I’d like to, but it’s definitely nice to get a win not on my tour and after Augusta, to get my first win again, obviously the game is still in really good form and I’m really excited about the rest of the year.”
