Monday Morning Caddy - August 28, 2017

August 28, 2017 Sara Rubin Comments

Read up on Dustin Johnson's Sudden Death victory over Jordan Spieth at the Northern Trust in this week's Monday Morning Caddy.

Dustin Wins in Showdown at the Northern Trust

Two of golf’s greats took it to a playoff on Sunday at the Northern Trust, but in the end it was Dustin Johnson, who hit a monster of a drive on the first playoff hole, who bested Jordan Spieth for the win. Going into the final round, DJ was back by five strokes and it looked very much like it was going to be Jordan’s day again. However, DJ put on a stunning show and forced a sudden death playoff on hole 18 when he dropped an 18-foot putt to take the round to overtime.

This victory marked Dustin Johnson’s first win since he wrenched his back falling down the stairs earlier this year. That spill forced him to withdraw from the Masters. It’s nice to see DJ back in winning form and adding some drama to a tournament that Spieth would have had locked up.

Bonus: Watch DJ’s Insane Drive on the Playoff Hole to Set up his Birdie

Hole 18 at the Northern Trust presented two of golf’s best with some interesting option. The hole is a 467-yard Par 4 dogleg left with water on the lefthand side. Most golfers opt to take a line straight up the fairway – laying up so that they can set up for an approach shot of around 170 yards. It’s the safe thing to do since you have to have massive distance to take an aggressive line over the water. It’s what Jordan Spieth did during the sudden death playoff.

Dustin Johnson however opted for the more aggressive approach and took a line straight over the water. The result is that he had a 92-yard approach while Jordan had 174 yards still to contend with. DJ stuck his shot to 4 feet while Jordan had a much longer, more challenging putt. Sometimes it pays to go for it!

Check out their insanely different lines here:

DJ Drive

Has @DJohnsonPGA ever played a more perfect hole than that playoff birdie? pic.twitter.com/9gUOrTINTB
— PGA TOUR (@PGATOUR) August 27, 2017

What’s in DJ's’ Bag?

Dustin Johnson used a full bag of TaylorMade clubs to propel him to victory at the 2017 Northern Trust. Here’s what he used:

Ball: TaylorMade TP5x

Driver: TaylorMade M1 2017 (Fujikura Speeder 661x Tour Spec 2.0), 10.5 degrees

3-wood: TaylorMade M2 2017, 16.5 degrees

5-wood: TaylorMaDe M2, 18 degrees

Irons (3-PW): TaylorMade Tour Preferred MB 14

Wedges: TaylorMade Milled Grind (52, 60 degrees)

Putter: TaylorMade TP Juno

PGA Opens Up Photo and Video During Tournaments

In an effort to make the PGA Tour more fan-friendly, the PGA tour is now allowing spectators to take and post pictures and videos during tournament play. Previously, photos were only allowed during practice rounds and the softening of the policy is one that should make tournaments a little more fun for those who attend.

Live-streaming and shot by shot coverage still isn’t allowed and phones must be on silent mode at all times. However, the move is a good one and shows that the PGA is finally realizing that the more fans share the more that will care. Or maybe they just realized that everyone was already taking pictures anyway.

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