Coastal Carolina University alumnus and former Myrtle Beach resident Dustin Johnson shot a 6-under-par 65 in Saturday’s final round to win The Barclays at Plainfield Country Club, the first event in the PGA Tour’s four-tournament Playoffs for the FedExCup.
Johnson’s 19-under 194 total was two strokes better than runner-up Matt Kuchar, and three better than Vijay Singh and Brandt Snedeker, who shot a 10-under 61 Saturday.
Kuchar began the day with a one-shot lead over Johnson, who took over the lead in the FedExCup standings and earned $1.35 million of an $8 million purse.
The tournament was cut to 54 holes because inclement weather from Hurricane Irene was expected to pass through the area Saturday night and into Sunday.
It’s the second consecutive year Johnson has claimed victory in a playoff event, as he won the BMW Championship last year before finishing fifth in the playoffs and earning a $1 million bonus. The FedExCup playoffs winner earns a $10 million bonus.
He now has five PGA Tour wins, including at least one in each of his four seasons.
Johnson wrestled the lead from Kuchar with a blistering 6-under 29 on the front nine. He made birdies on holes 1, 2, 5, 7 and 9, eagled on the 328-yard par-4 fourth hole by holing out from a green-side bunker, and bogeyed the par-3 third hole. Pars on the final nine holes were good enough to earn the win.
Kuchar made the turn one stroke behind and birdied the 11th hole to tie Johnson for the lead, but he bogeyed holes 12 and 13 and was unable to mount a charge down the stretch.
The lead threesome of Kuchar, Johnson and Singh teed off in the final threesome at 8:50 a.m. as PGA Tour officials tried to beat the expected heavy rain and wind. Golf Channel has tape-delayed coverage through 3 p.m., and CBS has coverage from 3-6 p.m.
