Dustin Johnson the long bomber, didn't look that good when he lost two shots to his nearest chasers at the beginning of the round. But with a eagle on 16 and then a birdie on 17, DJ was able to walk away with a three shot win over defending champ, Ian Poulter.
Johnson was leading by three shots going into Sunday, but when McDowell and Poulter (his playing partners) both birdied the first hole, and Johnson bogeyed it, it wasn't going to look like a run-away victory. And it really wasn't until he separated himself on the last couple holes. The win on Sunday marks the biggest win for Johnson, and this elevates his prestige on the tour quite a bit.
DJ won the HSBC in a definitive manner, and showed much of the nay-sayers that he isn't the same player he used to be. This is still the same golfer who shot in the 80's his final round at the US Open when he had the lead, and the same player who had the PGA won and then grounded his club in a non-traditional bunker, causing him to be penalized and missing the playoff. Now the WGC HSBC Championship isn't a major, but the World Golf Championship events are the biggest non-major events.
Some of the notable players who had high finishes were Poulter in second, McDowell in third, Garcia in fourth, Rose in fifth, McIlroy in sixth, and Watson in eighth. With this strong of a showing from the top players in the world it sets a great tone for the 2014 season. The only thing missing from this tournament was a good showing out of Tiger, but I'm not to worried about him for next year.
The first big tournament of the 2014 season was a big success due to the best players making it a tight race. This shows a lot of promise going forward for 2014, and all the drama that will take place.
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