Dustin Johnson continues superb record at Saudi International with second win

Dustin Johnson won the Saudi International for the second time in three years on Sunday (Gareth Fuller/PA)

Dustin Johnson held his nerve to win the Saudi International for the second time in three years and extend his lead at the top of the world rankings.

Johnson, who was also runner-up in 2020, carded a closing 68 at Royal Greens Golf Club to finish 15 under par, two shots ahead of Justin Rose and Tony Finau.

Scotland’s Calum Hill eagled the par-five 18th to finish in a tie for fourth with France’s Victor Perez.

Cormac Sharvin finished best of the Irish in his first appearance of the year, a final round of 68 capping a strong weekend to finish 21st on seven under.

The Ardglass professional had three birdies on Sunday, taking home a cheque worth €31,700 for the effort.

“It’s a solid start to 2021,” said Sharvin. “It was a bit of a weird week. I caught a bit of a stomach bug on Wednesday and didn’t even know if I was going to play on Thursday. 

“I was really struggling and pretty close to pulling out during the round but managed to grind out a level par in tough conditions. Felt a bit better on Friday, still not great but felt a good bit better on the weekend.

“To birdie three of the last four on Friday to make the cut was great and just to get four rounds of golf in after the way I was feeling too was a bonus. 

“I went to Dubai a week before, bought a GC Quad launch monitor so was able to get a lot of work done with distances which helped me a lot and it was probably the best prepared I felt for a tournament in a while.”

Shane Lowry was two shots further back after closing with a 71, while defending champion Graeme McDowell produced his first under par round of the week, a 68, to finish on one over.

Johnson took a two-shot lead into the final round but the Masters champion struggled on the greens and was caught by Finau when his fellow American made a hat-trick of birdies from the 11th.

However, Johnson edged back in front with a birdie on the 13th and was given some welcome breathing space when Finau dropped shots on the 16th and 17th and Perez double-bogeyed the 16th.

Johnson also dropped a shot on the 16th to see his lead cut to one, but responded in style with a massive tee shot on the next and a pitch to two feet to set up a decisive birdie.

“I saw the leaderboard a little bit, the guys were playing well but I kept giving myself a lot of chances,” Johnson told Sky Sports. “I didn’t hole many of them but finally holed a really nice putt on 13.

“Seventeen was a really nice birdie, hit a great drive there and a nice little chip but it was tough all day today.

“I don’t get to play around the world as much as I’d like to but it’s definitely nice to get a win not on my tour and after Augusta, to get my first win again, obviously the game is still in really good form and I’m really excited about the rest of the year.”