Masters notebook: Johnson records best Masters finish of career

Though he didn’t get the ultimate prize in the 79^th Masters, Dustin Johnson recorded his best finish at Augusta National Golf Club and continued to trend upward in a season that is shaping up to be his best as a pro.

Johnson closed his sixth Masters with a 3-under-par 69 to tie for sixth at 9-under 279, bettering his previous best Masters finish of a tie for 13^th in 2013.

“I didn’t have my A game for sure, and to finish in the top 10 without my A game at all, I’ll get some confidence and I have some things to work on,” Johnson said. “I feel my game is going in the right direction.”

The Coastal Carolina alumnus, who has moved up to No. 6 in the world ranking, now has five top-six finishes, including a win and runner-up, in seven events since returning in early February from a six-month break he said he took to deal with “personal challenges” that included excessive drinking.

Johnson began the final round tied for fifth at 6 under and birdied three consecutive holes and four of six to reach 10 under through 11 holes. The birdie spree included a 52-foot breaking uphill putt on the par-3 sixth hole and 6-foot downhill putt on the seventh.

His approach shot on the seventh stopped 20 feet above the hole. As Johnson went below the hole to read his putt, his ball began trickling down the green. It rolled about 14 feet to considerably shorten the birdie putt, and Johnson took advantage.

“The ball should have never stopped there in the first place. Even when I walked up to mark it, it was twitching,” said Johnson, who raised his arms and smiled as the ball rolled toward the hole. “It was sitting there forever while I was reading it, and then it started rolling, which was nice.”

He followed the seventh with a third consecutive birdie on the par-5 eighth. His eagle chip hung on the lip and he waited several seconds before removing the flag to tap in. “I thought I made it. It was just hanging over the edge,” Johnson said.

Johnson birdied the 11^th with an 8-foot putt, but he got no closer to eventual champion Jordan Spieth. He bogeyed the 12^th and birdied the par-5 13^th before a fateful double bogey on the 16^th hole after his 8-iron found water to the front-left of the green.

“I hit a good shot there, the wind either laid down or turned back in my face a little bit,” Johnson said. He closed his round with a 25-foot birdie putt.

“I putted well. If I could have struck the ball a little better I think I could have contended. I wasn’t hitting irons as nicely as I’d like, or my driver,” Johnson said. “When I didn’t play well my misses were too far off. You have to control your misses here and I didn’t do that.”

Johnson scrambled to open with five pars before he got hot. He made par from the right trees on the third hole, got up and down from a bunker on the par-3 fourth and made a 7-footer for par on the fifth. “I was real patient early because I just wasn’t hitting it very good right out of the start,” Johnson said. “I hit it in the correct spots where I could get it up and down.”

Johnson capitalized on his length all week by easily leading the field in driving distance and playing the par-5s 14 under with three eagles on Friday. He had been 29 under on the par-5s in his 18 career rounds at Augusta National.

“For me playing the par-5s is crucial, and this year I played them the best I ever have,” Johnson said. “You have to take advantage of your length when you can because the golf course is tough. If you’re hitting it really well you can make a lot of birdies, if you’re not it’s really hard to get it close to the hole.”

Johnson is headed to the Bahamas on vacation this week, so he is not participating in the Hootie & the Blowfish Monday After the Masters Celebrity Pro-Am at Barefoot Resort for the first time in three years, and intends to play three straight events beginning next week – the Zurich Classic of New Orleans, WGC-Cadillac Match Play in San Francisco and The Players Championship in Florida.

He plans to skip the following event, the Wells Fargo Championship in Charlotte, N.C., from May 14-17.

Woods back on course

Considering bookies were taking bets on whether Tiger Woods would make the cut, his tie for 17^th at 5-under 283 following a two-month break to work on his swing and a failing short game can be considered an accomplishment.

That’s how Woods is looking at it. “Considering where I was at Torrey [Pines] and Phoenix, to make the complete swing change and rectify all the faults and come here to a major championship and contend, I'm proud of that part of it,” Woods said. “I just wish I could have made a few more timely putts and moved up that board.”

Woods’ 68 Saturday was his first weekend round in the 60s in a major since the 2011 Masters. He followed it with a 73 Sunday that included an injury to his right hand and arm when he hit a tree root on the ninth hole.

“It definitely hurt. I didn't know there was a tree root there,” he said. “I drove my hand or drove the club straight into it. It didn't move, but my body kept moving. There was a little joint that popped out and I was able to somehow put it back in, which didn't feel very good, but at least it got back in and I could move my hand again.”

Woods wouldn’t specify when he’ll return to action on the PGA Tour.

“It’s not going to be for a while,” he said. “I’ll have a little time off, and go back to the drawing board, work on it again, and refine what I'm doing. I really like what I'm doing, I got my distance back, and everything is good. My short game's my strength again, which is good stuff.”

Sister inspires Spieth

Jordan Spieth has been commended for maturity that appears to be beyond his 21 years. His impressive demeanor might have a lot to do with his younger sister. Ellie Spieth, 14, has a neurological disorder that places her on the autism spectrum, and she is a big part of his life.

Ellie goes to several tournaments a year but did not come with her family to Augusta. She’s staying with friends in Spieth’s hometown of Dallas.

“She's the funniest member of our family. I really love when she's able to be out there, love spending time with her,” Spieth said. “It's humbling to see her and her friends and the struggles they go through each day that we take for granted. Their kind of lack of patience or understanding, where it seems easy for us and it's not for them.

“But at the same time they are the happiest people in the world; and when I say they, I speak to special needs kids. And my experience with her and in her class and with her friends, it's fantastic. I love being a part of it and helping support it.”

Spieth also received some grounding in high school at Jesuit College Preparatory in Dallas, which emphasizes volunteer work and service to those in need.

He has created the Jordan Spieth Charitable Trust to support military families, junior golfers and special needs youth. He has formed a bond on tour with four-time major winner Ernie Els, whose son, Ben, has autism. Els said this week of Spieth: He’s “the most balanced kid I've seen” and “the nicest kid in the world.”

Slamming the door

Rory McIlroy shot a bogey-free 66 Sunday to climb to a fourth-place finish at 12-under 276, and played his final 45 holes 15 under after he was in danger of missing the cut at 3 over through 27 holes.

The world No. 1 doesn’t believe the opportunity to complete the Grand Slam this past week caused him to press or otherwise affected his performance.

“I wasn't approaching it like I was trying to win the Grand Slam,” McIlroy said. “I was approaching it like I was trying to win another golf tournament. So I don't think it's really had any impact on the way I've played this week.”

McIlroy has won two of the past three majors. He’ll head to Chambers Bay in Washington in June attempting to earn his second U.S. Open title to go along with a Claret Jug and two Wanamaker Trophies.

The No. 1 pop star

One Direction member Niall Horan, who caddied for Rory McIlroy in the Par 3 Contest on Wednesday, told Golf Channel that McIlroy will join the band on-stage during their performance at Gillette Stadium in Foxboro, Mass., this summer, the same week as the Deutsche Bank Championship.

“That was part of the deal,” Horan said. “If I went on the bag with him he would come on stage and sing with us. . . . He is allowed to pick the song. If he is able to pick the song, then he is going to do it.”

Horan said he hasn’t heard McIlroy sing, “but apparently he’s terrible.”

This story was originally published April 12, 2015 at 9:43 PM with the headline "Masters notebook: Johnson records best Masters finish of career."