When the rain clouds finally broke over Illinois yesterday, Zach Johnson was able to see the silver lining.
The fourth round of the BMW Championship had been delayed by bad weather on Sunday but there was barely any sign that it was going to start raining on Johnson's parade yesterday, the American coming from behind to pip Jim Furyk following a closing round of 65.
Johnson picked his moment - a bogey-free round allowing him to finish ahead of his compatriot, who dropped three strokes yesterday with a score of 71. Those digits pointed to a closing round during which Furyk surrendered the momentum which he had built so expertly over the weekend; carding an historic 59 on day two of the competition, before finishing with a two-under par 69 on Saturday to take a one-shot lead into the final round.
The 43-year-old is still waiting for his first title since 2010. He may come to consider that he will not likely have a better opportunity to end his drought than he did on a soggy weekend at Conway Farms Golf Club in Lake Forest.
As Johnson whet his whistle last night, Nick Watney was another looking for a place to drown his sorrows. He finished two shots off the lead despite recording the lowest score of the day, a 64 enabling him to move into contention for the title midway through day four. Johnson was certain in his response, completing a six-under round to ease into a lead and take the title for himself.
It was an impressive round and one which was unmatched by other leading players; Jason Day and Luke Donald both finishing three strokes further back with a final score of 66 to sit alongside Hunter Mahan and Steve Stricker on the leaderboard with scores of 11-under par. Keegan Bradley would also record his lowest score of the tournament yesterday with a 66.
The American - who won the HP Byron Nelson Championship two years ago - finished on seven-under par yesterday, having been a victim of the bad weather which forced an early end to play over the weekend. He finished two shots behind Tiger Woods, who proved unable to register his best round, finishing with a overall score of 71. That left him on nine under for the tournament, better off than Sergio Garcia, who was a further two shots behind Bradley after a final score of 72.
There was perhaps just a sense of relief that players were able to turn in a completed scorecard at all, since just six of the field had managed to complete their final round on Sunday. Rory McIlroy was just putting the finishing touches to his score when the siren sounded for the first time to alert the players on the course to the poor weather bringing action to a premature close.
Some were able to return after a delay but, with the saturated greens looking more like clogged drains, tournament organiser decided to dry off and try again yesterday. All of 22 players had yet to swing a club.
McIlroy was among the few to finish, though, and signed off with a relatively promising round when you take into account his form this year. The world No.4 carded a three-under 68, finishing seven over.
Kevin Chappell, Dustin Johnson, Charley Hoffman, Scott Piercy and Lee Westwood also finished on Sunday. The latter found himself under a cloud all of his own having topped his score up to 12 over.
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