Dustin Johnson broke the 72-hole scoring record of 270 at the 2020 Masters on Nov. 15. The record was previously held by Tiger Woods in 1997 and Jordan Spieth in 2015. His final round of four-under-par 68 gave him a total score of 268 (20-under-par). Johnson is a 36-year-old American professional golfer who grew up in Columbia, South Carolina. This was a major breakthrough for Johnson, as in previous years he faced many misfortunes and huge setbacks. 

At the 2010 PGA Championship, he grounded his club in a bunker, causing him a penalty and a win. In the 2015 U.S. Open, Johnson made a three-putt on the final hole which lost him the championship. Then in the 2017 Masters, the golfer had an unfortunate mishap with an accidental slip down the stairs in his home that resulted in a back injury, leaving him to withdraw. His win in the 2016 U.S. Open was plagued with the assessment of a penalty after the tournament was over.

“It feels good to get past one major, especially when the second one is the Masters, which I always dreamed of winning as a kid,” stated Johnson as he broke down in tears while being interviewed.

The defending champion, Woods, was not able to catch up to Johnson as he started 11 strokes behind him. Then at the par-3 12th hole, also known as the “Golden Bell”, Woods scored all three balls into the creek and landed with a score of 10, the highest ever in all of his PGA Tour career. He birdied five out of his six holes and finished 38th place.

Sungjae Im of South Korea and Cameron Smith of Australia followed up Johnson closely, each finishing at 15-under-par. Johnson made successive bogeys on the fourth and fifth, slightly closing the gap, only then to widen his lead with scoring two birdies with the next three holes. 

The 2020 Masters is unusual with the current pandemic as it was postponed from April to November. This also marked the first time the competition was held without fans. Johnson was then awarded the green jacket that comes with the victory less than five months before next year’s competition. Johnson was also sick with the coronavirus with mild symptoms last month and had to be quarantined for around two weeks.

Johnson commented on the unusual circumstances, “I know 2020 has been a really strange year. But it’s been good to me.”

Photo courtesy of GOLF.COM