World No 1 Dustin Johnson aiming to add to Saudi success

Dustin Johnson is aiming to cement his position as world No 1 by maintaining an impressive run of form in the Saudi International.

World No 1 Dustin Johnson poses with a globe ahead of the Saudi International powered by SoftBank Investment Advisers at Royal Greens Golf and Country Club in King Abdullah Economic City. Picture: Ross Kinnaird/Getty Images.

In the event’s inaugural staging two years ago, the American shot rounds of 68-61-65-67 at Royal Greens Golf & Country Club for a 19-under-par total and a two-stroke victory.

Then, in his title defence last year, he posted another four rounds in the 60s for a 10-under aggregate as he finished second to Northern Ireland’s Graeme McDowell.

“It's a golf course that I thought set up well for me,” admitted Johnson of his success in the European Tour event. “I like the golf course. It's a fun course to play.

“It's a golf course where you have to drive it well. The greens have got a lot of slope in them, so you need to be able to control your ball coming into it.

“But, if you drive it well, you can definitely make a lot of birdies just because you can get some short clubs in your hand.”

For the event’s third edition, Masters champion Johnson is among four players in the world’s top 10, the others being Tyrrell Hatton (7th), Bryson DeChambeau (8th) and Patrick Reed (10th).

“I'm looking forward to the whole season, obviously the majors, but every event I play,” said Johnson.“I don't really set goals of wanting to win a certain amount of tournaments or win this tournament. I don't like to do that.“For me, every week, every tournament I go to, I want to compete and I want to put myself in a position to have a chance to win come Sunday.“So that's kind of my goal going into every week. I don't really look past the tournament that I'm playing that week. That's how I approach every event.”This week’s field also includes Viktor Hovland, who is up to 12th in the world rankings after finishing joint-second behind Patrick Reed in the Farmers Insurance Open at Torrey Pines on Sunday.Like Bob MacIntyre, the young Norwegian is hoping to secure a Ryder Cup debut on Padraig Harrington’s team for the rescheduled match at Whistling Straits in September.“That would be awesome,” said Hovland. “I love match play and it seems to bring out the best in my game.“I have some cool memories from the junior days playing in the European Boys' Team Championship and also from the National Championship in the States and US Amateur.”Hovland played with Harrington in the first two rounds of the BMW PGA Championship at Wentworth last October and said of the Irishman: “He seems like a very intelligent person, thinks things through and kind of geeky in a sense.“Don't mean that in a bad way. But he's very into golf and he has a lot of passion.”

MacIntyre, who is among nine Scots in the field, has defending champion Graeme McDowell and newly-crowned Omega Dubai Desert Classic champion Paul Casey for company in the opening two rounds in the $3.5 million event.Stephen Gallacher and Richie Ramsay have fared best among the Scots in the two editions so far, having finished in tie for 21st last year.

A message from the Editor:Thank you for reading this article. We're more reliant on your support than ever as the shift in consumer habits brought about by coronavirus impacts our advertisers. If you haven't already, please consider supporting our trusted, fact-checked journalism by taking out a digital subscription.