Johnson chases Masters win to end fourth-round major hex

AUGUSTA, United States: World number one Dustin Johnson opened with a par in Sunday’s final round of the Masters as he launched his closing bid to capture the green jacket for his second major title.

Johnson, who began the round with a four-stroke edge, has never converted a 54-hole lead into a major title in four attempts, but looked to end the curse at Augusta National.

The 36-year-old American, who grew up only an hour’s drive north of the course, would be the first top-ranked Masters winner since Tiger Woods in 2002.

“If I want to win, I’m going to have to go out and keep playing aggressive,” Johnson said Saturday. “There are a lot of good players out there, so I’m going to have to play really well.”

Johnson, whose only major win came at the 2016 US Open, fired a bogey-free seven-under par 65 Saturday to match the 54-hole course record of 16-under par 200.

That gave him a four-stroke edge over South Korea’s Im Sung-jae, Australian Cameron Smith and Mexico’s Abraham Ancer, with South African Dylan Frittelli on 205 and world number three Justin Thomas sixth on 206.

Those nearest pursuers to Johnson have only one major win between them, the 2017 PGA Championship victory by American Thomas.

While Johnson has only lost majors when carrying a 54-hole lead, he never enjoyed as wide a margin as at Augusta National, which lacks its usual atmosphere with spectators banned as a Covid-19 safety measure.

Johnson stumbled at the 2010, 2015 and 2018 US Opens and in August at the 2020 PGA Championship, where he settled for a runner-up spot.

If he breaks 70 on Sunday, Johnson would shatter the 72-hole Masters scoring record, the 18-under 270 set by Woods in 1997 and matched by Jordan Spieth in 2015.

Johnson, the PGA Player of the Year, has won or been second in five of his past six starts, including a victory at the Tour Championship.

After finishing sixth at the US Open in September, he contracted Covid-19 last month and missed two events, but was a runner-up last week at Houston.