Justin Rose remarkably overcame an eight-shot deficit to capture a second WGC title with his two-shot success in the WGC – HSBC Champions in Shanghai.
Only seven of 77 players managed to break par on the Sheshan course including last year’s Olympic Gold medal winner in posting closing 68 in extremely windy conditions to win by two with a 14-under par tally.
World No. 1 Dustin Johnson enjoyed a commanding six shot lead before and with the red-hot American looking to become the first player to capture three WGC titles in a season.
Justin Rose holds aloft the WGC – HSBC Champions trophy after a remarkable final round in Shanghai. (Photo – European Tour/Getty)
Instead, Johnson failed to manage a single bogey in stumbling his way to a five-over par 77 and eventually finished tied second with Brookes Koepka (71) and Henrik Stenson (70).
With Rose in the clubhouse, Johnson’s last hope of salvaging the title rested with an eagle at the last but with ‘DJ’s’ ball rolling off the green and into the water.
“It was the kind of day you certainly don’t expect,” said Rose.
“It’s also the kind of day you hope and dream for but a lot of things needed to go my way in order for a day like today to happen.
“So, coming from eight shots behind, especially against a player like DJ, is something else”
The win is Rose’s first since his Rio Games triumph but a first regular title since late 2015 when he captured the Hong Kong Open.
Johnson’s shock collapse immediately ignited memories of his horror 2010 US Open final round of 82 that opened the door for Graeme McDowell to claim success at Pebble Beach.
“I just could never get anything going and didn’t hole any putts,” Johnson said. “It was pretty simple.”
Given the event was also a PGA Tour counting tournament, Johnson’s collapse matched the record for losing a six-shot lead, most recently by Sergio Garcia at Quail Hollow in 2005.
Aussie Greg Norman also blew a six-shot leading cushion to lose the 1996 Masters.
Only two other players in PGA Tour history have come from more than eight shots behind on the final day to win — Scot Paul Lawrie (10 shots) in the 1999 Open Championship and Stewart Cink (nine shots) at Hilton Head in 2004.
Rose’s second WGC title lifts him from 13th in the world to sixth, with Koepka and Stenson now seventh and eighth respectively, pushing the absent Rory McIlroy down to ninth.
