Saudi International R4

February 04-07
Royal Greens G&CC, King Abdullah Economic City, Saudi Arabia
$3,500,000
Round 1, Round 2, Round 3

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Dustin Johnson earned his second Saudi International powered by SoftBank Investment Advisers title in three years after holding off the chasing pack to secure a two-stroke victory at Royal Greens Golf & Country Club.

“It was a really good week. I felt like I played really solid every day. Gave myself a lot of chances. Didn’t putt quite as well as I’d like to, but obviously well enough to get a victory today.

“But conditions were tough, especially a couple of the days, but I felt like I struck it very well. I drove it really good. So I gave myself a ton of chances. But yeah, just obviously I’m very pleased with the win and very excited but I’m going to have to go home and work on the putting a bit I think.”

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The World Number One started the day with a two-stroke advantage and he was pushed all the way by playing partner Victor Perez and compatriot Tony Finau, who briefly pulled level with Johnson on the back nine.

“I’ve enjoyed my time here,” said Finau. “A little bittersweet at the moment. I knew I could put some pressure on DJ going into 16 and made a couple bogeys unfortunately on 16 and 17. But I’ve enjoyed my week. The golf course is good. Enjoy playing on the European Tour when I have the opportunity and when my schedule allows, and yeah, I’ll definitely be back. But I think it was a positive week and one that I’ll continue to grow on.

“DJ is obviously a hell of a player, favourite going into this week. And it was good going toe-to-toe with him there kind of down the stretch and I don’t think it will be the last time we’re going to run into each other.

“I think more encouraging [than frustrating]. I was able to make some putts I feel like were big on the back nine, or early on the back nine that gave me a chance. I was floating three or four back going into 11 and knew I was running out of holes to make something happen. I was happy I was able to make a run there in the middle of the back nine.

“Unfortunately a couple bogeys coming in, but I know how well I’m playing and I’ve got to just keep positive. If I keep playing at a high level and give myself a chance to win, I just know it’s bound to happen. I think I’ve got to keep encouraged and again as I mentioned, it’s really, really early in the calendar year. I’m just happy that I’ve got a few solid rounds under my belt early in 2021.

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The reigning Masters Champion closed out victory by responding to his only dropped shot of the day at the 16th with a birdie at the 17th to finish with a closing two under par round of 68 for a winning 15 under total.

“It’s tough to win on the European Tour, PGA TOUR, no matter what ranking you are,” said Johnson. “But yeah, obviously winning as Number One is definitely good, and obviously it gives me a little bit more of a lead. It gives me a lot of confidence going in for the rest of the year. Obviously we’re at the beginning of the year, so pleased with how I’m playing and looking forward to the rest of the year.

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

The triumph is Johnson’s first victory since winning his first Green Jacket at the Masters Tournament in November and continues his excellent record in Saudi Arabia after winning the maiden edition of the event in 2019 before finishing second to Graeme McDowell in 2020.

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Finau marked his debut in Saudi Arabia with a tie for second place on 13 under par with England’s Justin Rose, whose joint runner-up result is his best European Tour finish since he won the 2018 Turkish Airlines Open. A shot further back in a tie for fourth place on 12 under par was Scotland’s Calum Hill, who secured his best European Tour result to date, and France’s Perez, whose challenge was effectively ended by a double bogey five on the 16th as he signed for a 69.

“That was the best golf I played in quite some time,” said Rose. “I won’t go crazy like Poults but I did not make one putt today; longest putt I made was seven feet for par on 16 so really clean round of golf. I didn’t putt poorly at all. Was quite aggressive with my putting. I was getting them to the hole and rolling them two- or three-foot by and kept making the ones coming back in the middle, so I felt confident in my putting all day but couldn’t get them to fall.

“I guess I was in decent position going into the final round in Dubai, seventh place and had a poor Sunday and drops you back into making it a terrible week. Nice to feel like I’ve come out of the three-week trip with a nice bit of positive momentum today.

“I’ve been working on a lot of stuff but really staying patient. I haven’t been playing my best golf and easy to get frustrated. I’ve kind of stayed with it, even though this three-week trip, it felt like it’s been slow going, and good golf hasn’t been rewarded and I’ve made silly mistakes. Momentum hasn’t quite been on my side yet. So to play a bogey-free 65 on a Sunday is something to kind of take and fuel the upcoming run.”

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Pos.	Player	To Par	R1	R2	R3	R4	Total
1	Dustin Johnson	-15	67	64	66	68	265
T2	Tony Finau	-13	68	65	67	67	267
T2	Justin Rose	-13	68	66	68	65	267
T4	Calum Hill	-12	65	68	68	67	268
T4	Victor Perez	-12	67	66	66	69	268
T6	Ryan Fox	-11	65	65	71	68	269
T6	Tyrrell Hatton	-11	67	67	66	69	269
T6	Viktor Hovland	-11	68	66	67	68	269
T6	Rasmus Højgaard	-11	70	69	68	62	269
T10	George Coetzee	-10	66	70	65	69	270
T10	Thomas Pieters	-10	65	71	68	66	270
T12	Paul Casey	-9	69	68	67	67	271
T12	Sean Crocker	-9	68	72	65	66	271
T12	Sergio Garcia	-9	70	67	64	70	271
T12	David Horsey	-9	61	71	69	70	271
T12	Kurt Kitayama	-9	67	68	68	68	271
T12	Søren Kjeldsen	-9	69	66	65	71	271
T18	Bryson DeChambeau	-8	65	70	68	69	272
T18	Martin Kaymer	-8	67	68	66	71	272
T18	Ian Poulter	-8	67	69	67	69	272
T21	Laurie Canter	-7	66	68	68	71	273
T21	Stephen Gallacher	-7	62	68	72	71	273
T21	Kevin Na	-7	69	63	71	70	273
T21	Chris Paisley	-7	68	67	69	69	273
T21	Cormac Sharvin	-7	70	69	66	68	273
T26	Steven Brown	-6	68	67	73	66	274
T26	Tommy Fleetwood	-6	68	65	73	68	274
T26	Antoine Rozner	-6	67	67	72	68	274
T29	Maximilian Kieffer	-5	71	67	67	70	275
T29	Shane Lowry	-5	70	67	67	71	275
T29	Robert MacIntyre	-5	71	68	65	71	275
T29	Matthew Southgate	-5	70	67	65	73	275
T33	Rafa Cabrera Bello	-4	69	69	69	69	276
T33	Jamie Donaldson	-4	72	67	69	68	276
T33	Mikko Korhonen	-4	66	70	71	69	276
T33	Guido Migliozzi	-4	68	67	74	67	276
T33	Wilco Nienaber	-4	71	67	67	71	276
T33	Andy Sullivan	-4	66	66	68	76	276
T33	Jeff Winther	-4	67	73	66	70	276
T33	Ashun Wu	-4	68	68	68	72	276
T41	Kiradech Aphibarnrat	-3	73	67	68	69	277
T41	Dean Burmester	-3	69	71	68	69	277
T41	Justin Harding	-3	68	70	68	71	277
T41	Jason Kokrak	-3	70	67	69	71	277
T41	Joost Luiten	-3	67	66	75	69	277
T41	James Morrison	-3	67	73	67	70	277
T41	Matthias Schwab	-3	68	72	67	70	277
T41	Jhonattan Vegas	-3	66	74	68	69	277
T41	Justin Walters	-3	68	68	70	71	277
T50	Masahiro Kawamura	-2	66	71	68	73	278
T50	Julian Suri	-2	69	67	70	72	278
T50	Lee Westwood	-2	67	70	67	74	278
T53	Abraham Ancer	-1	71	69	70	69	279
T53	Christiaan Bezuidenhout	-1	68	69	69	73	279
T53	Thomas Detry	-1	67	70	71	71	279
T53	Ross Fisher	-1	69	70	68	72	279
T53	Takumi Kanaya	-1	67	71	69	72	279
T53	Pablo Larrazabal	-1	69	71	69	70	279
T53	Phil Mickelson	-1	68	67	72	72	279
T53	Matthieu Pavon	-1	68	72	67	72	279
T53	Bernd Wiesberger	-1	64	68	71	76	279
T53	Fabrizio Zanotti	-1	66	71	67	75	279
T63	Ross McGowan	E	68	72	73	67	280
T63	Wade Ormsby	E	71	69	69	71	280
T63	Danny Willett	E	67	72	71	70	280
T66	Graeme McDowell	1	70	70	73	68	281
T66	Patrick Reed	1	69	70	68	74	281
T66	Richard Sterne	1	69	70	68	74	281
T66	Oliver Wilson	1	68	72	69	72	281
70	Marcus Kinhult	2	65	68	74	75	282
71	Joachim B. Hansen	3	70	70	68	75	283
T72	Jazz Janewattananond	4	69	70	68	77	284
T72	Romain Langasque	4	69	67	77	71	284
T72	Michael Lorenzo-Vera	4	69	70	70	75	284
75	Julien Guerrier	7	70	70	73	74	287
76	David Law	8	70	70	69	79	288
9999	Raphael Jacquelin	6	76	61			137
9999	Raphael Jacquelin	6	76	61			137
CUT	Ignacio Elvira Mijares	1	71	70			141
CUT	Scott Hend	1	71	70			141
CUT	Lucas Herbert	1	70	71			141
CUT	David Howell	1	71	70			141
CUT	Francesco Laporta	1	70	71			141
CUT	Min Woo Lee	1	69	72			141
CUT	Haotong Li	1	65	76			141
CUT	David Lipsky	1	70	71			141
CUT	Edoardo Molinari	1	73	68			141
CUT	Haydn Porteous	1	70	71			141
CUT	Kalle Samooja	1	69	72			141
CUT	Shubhankar Sharma	1	69	72			141
CUT	Joel Stalter	1	69	72			141
CUT	Matt Wallace	1	73	68			141
CUT	Chris Wood	1	73	68			141
CUT	Harry Hall	2	70	72			142
CUT	Garrick Higgo	2	70	72			142
CUT	Brandon Stone	2	70	72			142
CUT	Adri Arnaus	3	69	74			143
CUT	Alexander Björk	3	72	71			143
CUT	Kristoffer Broberg	3	70	73			143
CUT	Jorge Campillo	3	69	74			143
CUT	John Catlin	3	69	74			143
CUT	Gavin Kyle Green	3	71	72			143
CUT	Miguel Angel Jiménez	3	72	71			143
CUT	Andrew Johnston	3	70	73			143
CUT	Zander Lombard	3	72	71			143
CUT	Adrian Otaegui	3	68	75			143
CUT	Aaron Rai	3	69	74			143
CUT	Jason Scrivener	3	75	68			143
CUT	Grant Forrest	4	69	75			144
CUT	Benjamin Hebert	4	71	73			144
CUT	Scott Jamieson	4	74	70			144
CUT	Alexander Levy	4	71	73			144
CUT	Richie Ramsay	4	73	71			144
CUT	Paul Waring	4	71	73			144
CUT	Nino Bertasio	5	75	70			145
CUT	Thomas Bjørn	5	74	71			145
CUT	David Drysdale	5	70	75			145
CUT	Ernie Els	5	74	71			145
CUT	Jordan Smith	5	71	74			145
CUT	Shergo Al Kurdi (a)	6	69	77			146
CUT	Ashley Chesters	6	70	76			146
CUT	Lorenzo Gagli	6	71	75			146
CUT	Eduard Rousaud (a)	6	72	74			146
CUT	Henrik Stenson	6	72	74			146
CUT	Othman Almulla	7	71	76			147
CUT	Paul Dunne	7	73	74			147
CUT	Renato Paratore	7	72	75			147
CUT	Tapio Pulkkanen	7	73	74			147
CUT	Alvaro Quiros	7	71	76			147
CUT	Sami Valimaki	7	73	74			147
CUT	Oliver Fisher	8	72	76			148
CUT	Jayden Schaper	8	74	74			148
CUT	Sebastian Soderberg	8	73	75			148
CUT	Richard McEvoy	11	73	78			151
CUT	Andrea Pavan	13	74	79			153
CUT	Marc Warren	13	74	79			153
CUT	Saud Al Sharif	18	80	78			158
CUT	Faisal Salhab (a)	18	77	81			158
WD	Victor Dubuisson	E	71	69			140