BOLTON, Mass. — Dustin Johnson gave golf's newest professional circuit its first big moment Sunday, when he made a 35-foot eagle putt on the first hole of a sudden-death playoff to win the LIV Golf Invitational-Boston for his first victory in 19 months.
The former PGA Tour star's playoff putt on the par-5 18th was going so fast it might have rolled some six feet past the hole. Instead it ricocheted off the back of the cup before dropping down inside it to beat India's Anirban Lahiri and Chile's Joaquin Niemann.
The 38-year-old American and two-time major champion raised his arm and dropped it for a slow-motion uppercut, slapping hands with Austin Johnson, his brother and caddie. The win was worth $4 million, and he now has made $9,962,500 in four events with LIV Golf, which is backed by Saudi Arabia's sovereign wealth fund.
"It was going a little fast, but it was a good line," Johnson said with a big smile. "I got some unlucky breaks (on No. 18) the first time around. It owed me one, and I got it."
The first playoff in four LIV Golf events capped an otherwise sloppy finish by so many others who had a chance.
Johnson, who closed with a 5-under-par 65 to finish the 54 holes of regulation play at 15-under 195, needed a birdie on the par-5 18th the first time Sunday. His drive bounced into the right rough, his iron to lay up went into the trees well to the left, and he had to scramble for par to join Lahiri (64) and Niemann (66) in the playoff.
Lahiri hit a fairway metal to five feet on the 18th in regulation, and his eagle putt that would have won it rolled around the right edge of the cup. He and Niemann each made just more than $1.8 million as they shared second place.
England's Lee Westwood finished one shot out of a playoff after a 62 that included bogeys on two of his last three holes. He was poised to win when he bounced back from a bogey on No. 1 in the shotgun start with a short birdie on the par-3 second.
He finished on No. 3, a 352-yard hole and great birdie opportunity. Westwood hit a lob wedge that came up some 40 feet short of the pin and into a bunker. He blasted out weakly and missed the 18-foot par putt.
"The lob wedge was a little fat," Westwood said. "Make 3 and I win the tournament, and I make 5. It's a sickening way to finish."
British Open champion Cameron Smith, one of six players who recently signed with LIV Golf, had a 63. He also was tied for the lead until hitting his tee shot into the trees on No. 1, his 17th hole, and having to pitch out sideways before making a bogey.
Smith tied for fourth with Westwood. Each made just more than $1 million.
Johnson had not won since the Saudi International on Feb. 7, 2021, when it was part of the European Tour schedule. The player who has spent more time at No. 1 in the Official World Golf Rankings over the course of his career than anyone since Tiger Woods slipped out of the top 15 when he signed with LIV Golf.
He was part of the rival league from the first event in early June outside London, and he has finished in the top 10 in all four tournaments.
Lopez rallies late
SYLVANIA, Ohio — Gaby Lopez rallied from four shots behind Sunday and closed with three straight birdies for an 8-under 63 and a one-shot victory in the Dana Open.
Lopez finished her big run with a 12-foot putt on the par-5 18th at Highland Meadow, setting off a series of fist pumps because she knew the birdie would keep her one shot ahead of Megan Khang. All that was left for the 28-year-old Mexican was to see if anyone could catch her.
No one came particularly close, and Lopez had her third career LPGA Tour victory — and her first since the Tournament of Champions to start the 2020 season. Lopez finished the 72-hole event at 18-under 266
Khang, who shot a 29 on the front nine of the rain-softened course, closed with a 64 and was alone in second.
Germany's Caroline Masson (68) was third at 16 under.
Lucy Li, the 19-year-old Californian who started the final round with a one-shot lead, struggled to make birdies. Her hopes effectively ended when she hit into a fairway bunker on the 16th hole, played well short of the green and missed a five-foot par putt.
Li birdied the 18th hole for a 70 and tied for fourth with American player Sarah Schmezel (66) and China's Ruoning Yin (67) at 15 under.
Big year for Suh
NEWBURGH, Ind. — Justin Suh already had his PGA Tour card locked up, but he finished his season on the top tour's developmental circuit by closing with a 4-under 68 for a two-shot victory in the Korn Ferry Tour Championship.
It came with a few extra perks.
Suh finished atop the standings in points from the regular season and the three-event Korn Ferry Tour Finals, meaning the former University of Southern California star is fully exempt on the PGA Tour next year and earned a spot in the U.S. Open and The Players Championship.
This day was as much about players just trying to earn a PGA Tour card.
Austin Eckroat, who played his senior at Oklahoma, needed a big finish to have any chance of getting one of the 25 cards available from the Korn Ferry Tour Finals. He delivered in a big way with a 68 to finish second behind Suh, who totaled 21-under 267 in the 72-hole event.
Others who made big moves in the final event to secure a PGA Tour card included Eric Cole, whose parents both played professionally (Bobby Cole on the PGA, Laura Baugh on the LPGA), Colombia's Nicholas Echavarria and Argentina's Toya Gano.
Kyle Westmoreland, who spent five years in the Air Force, got the 25th spot narrowly over Joey Garber, who birdied his last four holes after a double bogey on No. 14.
The PGA Tour season starts Sept. 15 with the Fortinet Championship in Napa, California, and Suh will be going on a high.
Said Suh: "It felt great to prove to myself I could win."
Wilson ends drought
FARSO, Denmark — England's Oliver Wilson holed two birdie putts from close to 65 feet on the back nine to win the DP World Tour's Made in HimmerLand tournament and end a victory drought of almost eight years.
Wilson rolled in one of the lengthy putts on No. 13 and the other on No. 17, this time to take the outright lead. He held his nerve to par the last hole, hitting his drive off a small mound of turf instead of a tee, to close with a 4-under 67 and finish at 21-under 263, one shot ahead of Scotland's Ewen Ferguson (66).
Wilson had not recorded a top-10 finish on the European circuit since a tie for fourth in the same event in 2019.