The two best golfers in the LIV Golf league battled in a playoff on Sunday at LIV Tulsa, and in the end Dustin Johnson made a birdie on the first playoff hole to defeat Cameron Smith and Branden Grace for his second-ever LIV Golf victory.
D.J. followed a 63-63 start on Friday and Saturday with a respectable 67 on Sunday (with a triple bogey) but was run down by Smith, who shot 61 in the final round to jump into the playoff where D.J. promptly poured one in on him (and Grace) for the $4 million title.
“All wins are good,” said D.J. in very D.J.-like fashion. “It would be the same [as my win in Boston, which came in a playoff over Anirban Lahiri and Joaquin Niemann. “I want to win as much as possible. But obviously winning in a playoff, too, for the second time, next time I’d like to win without going into a playoff would be a lot less stressful.”
The victory came on the other side of a rain delay at Cedar Ridge Country Club. Rain left the golf course soggy after some of the best players in the world tore it up for most of the week. There were 11 rounds of 63 or better over the course of the three-day event.
For D.J., it comes at a great time. He’s headed up to Oak Hill for the second major championship of the year on Sunday evening after his win. It’s the first top five he’s posted this year and the best he’s played since last September. He was below average (for him) at the Masters but takes a little juice to Oak Hill where he’ll try to collect his third major and knock off three-quarters of the career grand slam.
“Yeah, I think I did pretty well [at Oak Hill in 2013],” he said of his T8 at that year’s PGA Championship. “Obviously that’s a long time ago, but yeah, I’m looking forward to it. Obviously it’s a really good golf course. It’s going to be tough. I like tough golf courses. It’s going to play tough, and from what I hear the rough is really deep.
“Yeah, looking forward to it. I feel like the game is in really good form going into next week, so we’ll see what happens.”
Johnson will likely benefit from the length of rough, the removal of tons of trees at Oak Hill and the opening up of the golf course as a whole. It’s not crazy to think he could win the tournament at 20-1.
Nor is it crazy to think Smith, who narrowly missed out on what would have been his second career LIV victory, could be a factor as well. His 61 on Sunday tied for the best round of the week, and he takes three consecutive top 10s into the PGA following a disappointing T34 at the Masters in April.
Other golfers who finished in the top 10 at LIV Tulsa and will play at Oak Hill include Brooks Koepka (T5) and Bryson DeChambeau (T5). With the way Oak Hill will likely be set up, either of them could be a factor.
On the team side, Grace’s Stingers GC narrowly edged D.J.’s 4Aces -40 to -39 on the week.