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EDISON, N.J. — The way Dustin Johnson began the final round of The Barclays, he figured the only thing that could keep him from winning was the rain.

Needing a good start, he opened with back-to-back birdies. In a bunker for the first time all week, he holed the 85-foot shot for eagle on No. 4 to take the lead. Even a wild tee shot on the par-5 fifth landed in trampled grass with a clear shot at the green.

And then it started raining.

Evans: Fast And Furious
Dustin Johnson’s 2-shot victory at the Barclays ratchets up the debate about who’s the best young American in the game, writes ESPN.com’s Farrell Evans. Column

Hard.

The Barclays, already reduced to 54 holes because of Hurricane Irene, would have reverted to a 36-hole tournament if the rain arrived early and kept the third round Saturday from finishing, making Matt Kuchar the winner.

“The way I got started, I was hoping that we were going to keep on playing,” Johnson said.

The rain stopped. Johnson kept right on going.

He shot 29 on the front nine for the second straight day — he played the front in 17-under par for the week — to close with a 6-under 65 and win the opening FedEx Cup playoff event by two shots over Kuchar.

Johnson didn’t take the lead for good until Kuchar, who won The Barclays a year ago on a different course, three-putted from long range just off the green on consecutive holes on the back nine to make bogeys. He closed with a 68.

http://espn.go.com/golf/story/_/id/6901422/dustin-johnson-beats-rain-holds-victory-barclays

GREENSBORO, N.C. — Webb Simpson grew up in North Carolina, and his favorite memory of the Wyndham Championship was caddying for Neal Lancaster as a teenager during a pro-am.

That might change now that he’s won the tournament.

Simpson claimed his first PGA Tour title Sunday, shooting a 3-under 67 to win by three strokes.

The 26-year-old Raleigh native finished at 18-under 262 and collected $936,000 in the tournament about a 30-mile drive from the Wake Forest campus where he was a college star.

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AP Photo/Chuck Burton
Webb Simpson picked up his first PGA Tour victory with a win in his home state of North Carolina.
“I really couldn’t think of a better place to win than here in Greensboro,” Simpson said.

George McNeill (64) was at 15 under, with Tommy Gainey (69) another stroke back in the final event before the PGA Tour playoffs.

Carl Pettersson (69), Vijay Singh (65), Jerry Kelly (65), Kyung-tae Kim (66) and Charles Howell III (67) finished at 13 under at Sedgefield Country Club.

Simpson said his first visit to the Greensboro-based tournament came when he was 16. His father brought him to the event’s former home across town at Forest Oaks Country Club to caddie for Lancaster during the Wednesday pro-am.

“That was probably the most fun 18 holes I’ve ever been a part of,” Simpson said.

His final 18 of this tournament were marked by steady, bogey-free play and a strong finish marked by consecutive birdies on Nos. 15 and 16.

After taking the lead during Round 3 with a late five-hole stretch of four birdies and an eagle, Simpson opened his final round with eight straight pars before moving to 16 under with a birdie on the par-4 ninth.

He stayed there until late in the day. Birdies on the par-5 15th and the par-3 16th gave him a three-shot lead with two holes to go.

“When I made the putt on 15, I asked my caddie for the first time all day, ‘Where do we stand?’ and he said, ‘We’re two ahead right now,’ ” Simpson said. “I knew I needed to play solid golf on the last three holes, and to birdie 16 was so huge. … I knew I had a three-shot lead on 18, and as soon as I hit the ball in play, I knew it was probably over.”

McNeill made a late charge, with the former Florida State player moving to 15 under with a birdie on No. 17, his sixth birdie of the round. But all he could do after that was hope for a few late bogeys from Simpson.

“Honestly, I thought it was going to be a lot lower,” McNeill said of the winning score. “I can only control myself. I can’t control what everybody else does. I’m very happy with the way I hit it, the way I played, the way I putted.”

http://espn.go.com/golf/story/_/id/6882166/webb-simpson-wins-wyndham-championship-first-pga-tour-victory

JOHNS CREEK, Ga. (AP) — A rally that ranks among the best. A collapse hardly anyone saw coming. There was even a guy in a red shirt Sunday, pumping his fists with each clutch putt in the final, frenzied hour of the PGA Championship.

In a major filled with unfamiliar names, Keegan Bradley delivered an unforgettable finish.

Bradley was five shots behind with only three holes to play after his chip shot raced across the 15th green and into the water, leading to a triple bogey. That’s when he reminded himself that no lead was safe on the final four holes at Atlanta Athletic Club.

“I just kept telling myself, ‘Don’t let that hole define this whole tournament,’” Bradley said.

Instead, it led to one of the most stunning turnarounds in a major. Bradley made back-to-back birdies, including a 35-footer with a belly putter that rattled into the cup on the 17th.

Then came a monumental meltdown by Jason Dufner. Unflappable all afternoon, he hit his tee shot in the water on the 15th for the first of three straight bogeys that led to a three-hole playoff.

Bradley birdied the 16th hole in the playoff — his first outright lead of the day — and went on to win by one shot.

The son of a PGA Professional in Vermont, wearing red for his alma mater — St. John’s — Bradley became only the third player in at least 100 years to win a major championship in his first try.

The Wanamaker Trophy at his side, Bradley took out his cell phone and took a picture of the oversized trophy. It wasn’t long before he posted it on Twitter with three hash tags — “pgachampion. triplebogies. happiness.”

“It feels unbelievable,” he said. “It seems like a dream and I’m afraid I’m going to wake up here in the next five minutes and it’s not going to be real.”

http://www.pga.com/pgachampionship/2011/news/gamer-081411.cfm