Johnson to face Tanihara in WGC Match Play semifinals

George Bayer would have something to say about that.

Johnson drove just short of the green, chipped to 30 inches, and rolled his putt in to complete another big week.

Then he said, “If I’m playing my best, yeah, I’ll play against anybody, anytime”.

One of Bill Haas’ better traits is an unflappable demeanor.

The trend continues among today’s young long hitters who have been No. 1 or won major titles. It lasted longer that he wanted. Six players at Match Play are out of the top 50 and not in the Masters: Ross Fisher, Hideto Tanihara, Thongchai Jaidee, Joost Luiten, Charles Howell III and K.T. Kim.

Rahm, seeded 21, hit back to lead following back-to-back gains at five and six before surging away from the American by winning the 13th, 15th and 16th holes courtesy of further birdies from the former amateur world number one.

That might seem like overstatement. He won the Nicklaus (player of the year), Palmer (money list) and Nelson (scoring average) awards on the PGA Tour in 2016 in what he called his “dream season”.

As Johnson has come to rely on a fade off the tee to control his accuracy, he’s impressively given up little in length. That’s a big part of my game.

If you’ve never tried, though, if you’ve never picked up a club, gripped it and tried to hit the ball flush on the sweet spot, you can be excused for turning on the television, watching Dustin Johnson ply his craft and thinking to yourself, Well, that doesn’t look so tough.

DIVOTS: Haas won the consolation match against Tanihara, 3 and 2, in which Tanihara made a hole-in-one on the seventh hole. DJ is widely regarded as the best driver in the world.

The match contained several off-the-charts moments. And even though Rahm got off to a bad start by allowing Johnson to be five up after eight holes, Rahm clawed his way back to make it a contest at one down with one to play. He’s candid, and playful, and carries a joy that so many Spaniards carry. But just hours later, he shot 2-over thru 13 holes with the colossal figure of Rahm watching his every shot. He and Johnson traded pars, and Rahm, who has come up short against Johnson at two WGCs this month, was left to ponder what might have been. At the 16th Rahm brilliantly holed from 31ft, meaning Johnson was suddenly only one hole ahead with two to play. Johnson then tapped in his short putt for the victory.

The victory capped a dominant week for Johnson, who never trailed in any of his seven matches. It gave the long-hitting Johnson three PGA Tour victories in a row, two of them being coveted WGC events.

Rahm missed good birdie chances on the first two holes and fell behind with a bogey on the third after finding thick rough off the tee, before compounding that mistake by three-putting the next. The way he steamrolled his six opponents prior to the final reaffirmed that, more than any 22-year-old since Woods, Rahm seems to have everything.

Rahm is giving golf a lot of hope. Did he show himself anything with his runner-up performance in Austin?