WGC-Mexico Championship Day 4: Dustin Johnson triumphs

Final leaderboard

(Gbr & Irl unless stated, par 71)

-14 Dustin Johnson (USA)
-13 Tommy Fleetwood
-12 Jon Rahm (Spa), Ross Fisher
-11 Justin Thomas (USA), Thomas Pieters (Bel)

Scroll down for collated scores

Day four report

Dustin Johnson underlined his status as world number one by holding off the challenge of a strong European contingent - which included our golf tipster Ben Coley's 200/1 each-way selection Tommy Fleetwood - to win the £7.9million WGC-Mexico Championship.

Johnson carded a closing 68 at Chapultepec Golf Club to finish 14 under par and a shot ahead of England's Fleetwood, who holed from 40 feet on the last to complete a superb 66 and secure the biggest payday of his career.

While Johnson collected the first prize of £1.35million, outright second was worth £850,000 to Fleetwood, more than double the £362,000 he won for victory in the Abu Dhabi Championship in January.

Fleetwood's performance also sealed 33 points of profit for those who followed Coley's tips for the event - click here to see what he said about the Englishman before the tournament began and make sure you return for his best bets for the next weekend's events.

Ross Fisher and Spain's Jon Rahm shared third place on 12 under, with Fisher firing nine birdies in a closing 65 and Rahm reeling in Johnson in thrilling fashion before costly bogeys on the 16th and 17th.

Johnson only moved to the top of the rankings with victory in the Genesis Open a fortnight ago and became the fifth player to win their first event since becoming number one, following in the footsteps of Ian Woosnam, David Duval, Vijay Singh and Adam Scott.

"It means a lot because it's a tough spot to be in" Johnson said in a post-round interview broadcast on Sky Sports. "There's a lot of pressure on you and I came out and I played really well.

"I hit the ball great all week. The greens are tough to putt on and I didn't feel like I putted my best, but I really hit the ball well and played just well enough I guess because I won by one."

The 32-year-old US Open champion looked to be cruising to victory when he covered the front nine in 31 to surge into a four-shot lead over Thomas Pieters, with Rahm a shot further back.

However, Rahm - who took out affiliate membership of the European Tour this week to become eligible for the Ryder Cup - closed the gap with an eagle on the 11th and then saw Johnson drop shots on the 12th and 13th.

Rahm took full advantage by holing from long range for birdie on the 14th and another gain on the 15th briefly took the 22-year-old into the outright lead in pursuit of a remarkable second win in his rookie season.

However, Johnson also birdied the 15th in the group behind and was given some welcome breathing space when Rahm three-putted both the 16th and 17th from long range.

Fleetwood kept up the pressure with an unlikely birdie on the 18th, but Johnson produced a superb approach from an awkward lie in a fairway bunker and safely two-putted for his fourth World Golf Championship title.

Fleetwood's performance will take the 26-year-old from Southport to a career-high of 35th in the world rankings, with Rahm up to 25th.

Rory McIlroy began the final round two shots off the lead but was never able to mount a charge, the world number three finishing joint seventh after carding two bogeys and two birdies in a closing 71.

Lee Westwood, who has played in 56 of the possible 61 individual World Golf Championship events without success, was within a shot of the lead after birdies on the first and fourth.

However, the 43-year-old then carded four double bogeys in the space of six holes from the sixth to tumble down the leaderboard, eventually signing for a 78 to finish in a tie for 28th.

Final-round collated scores

(Gbr & Irl unless stated, par 71):

270 Dustin Johnson 70 66 66 68

271 Tommy Fleetwood 69 70 66 66

272 Ross Fisher 67 68 72 65, Jon Rahm (Spa) 67 70 67 68

273 Justin Thomas 69 66 66 72, Thomas Pieters (Bel) 68 69 68 68

274 Phil Mickelson 67 68 68 71, Rory McIlroy 68 65 70 71, Brandt Snedeker 75 68 66 65

275 Tyrrell Hatton 70 67 68 70

276 Kevin Kisner 72 68 68 68

277 J.B. Holmes 69 68 69 71, Sergio Garcia (Spa) 68 71 68 70, Fabrizio Zanotti (Par) 68 69 72 68, Jordan Spieth 71 72 63 71

278 Daniel Berger 70 66 70 72, Paul Casey 74 71 67 66, Rickie Fowler 69 69 73 67, Matthew Fitzpatrick 71 67 72 68

279 Francesco Molinari (Ita) 71 72 70 66, Andrew Sullivan 71 65 72 71, Matt Kuchar 68 71 67 73

280 Jason Dufner 70 70 72 68, Martin Kaymer (Ger) 70 67 75 68

281 Hideki Matsuyama (Jpn) 72 72 66 71, Joost Luiten (Ned) 71 67 71 72, Jimmy Walker 67 74 68 72

282 Chris Wood 68 73 71 70, William McGirt 72 67 71 72, Lee Westwood 67 71 66 78, Ryan Moore 67 73 69 73

283 Soren Kjeldsen (Den) 75 71 71 66, Bill Haas 70 69 75 69, Branden Grace (Rsa) 73 69 68 73, Scott Piercy 72 73 72 66, Mackenzie Hughes (Can) 70 70 73 70, Hideto Tanihara (Jpn) 75 67 67 74

284 Pat Perez 68 71 74 71, Charl Schwartzel (Rsa) 71 68 70 75, Justin Rose 70 72 71 71, Gary Woodland 73 67 74 70, Bubba Watson 73 72 68 71, Jhonattan Vegas (Ven) 69 74 68 73, Rafael Cabrera-Bello (Spa) 72 69 71 72

285 Adam Scott (Aus) 73 76 68 68, Roberto Castro 69 68 74 74, Bernd Wiesberger (Aut) 73 70 71 71

286 Brendan Steele 74 71 70 71, Brooks Koepka 76 69 68 73, Byeong-Hun An (Kor) 73 66 71 76, Louis Oosthuizen (Rsa) 73 72 73 68

287 Emiliano Grillo (Arg) 72 77 69 69, Kevin Na 75 70 70 72, Michael Hendry (Nzl) 71 74 73 69

288 Alex Noren (Swe) 76 71 72 69, Kevin Chappell 71 77 71 69, Sam Brazel (Aus) 75 68 70 75

289 Jim Furyk 77 71 70 71, Zach Johnson 75 69 70 75, Marcus Fraser (Aus) 71 70 73 75

290 Yuta Ikeda (Jpn) 75 74 72 69, Patrick Reed 71 76 72 71

291 Thorbjorn Olesen (Den) 73 77 68 73, David Lipsky 73 73 75 70

293 Scott Hend (Aus) 76 71 73 73, Sean O'Hair 71 71 75 76

294 Roberto Diaz (Mex) 71 76 71 76, Brandon Stone (Rsa) 76 73 75 70

295 Danny Willett 76 72 72 75

296 Russell Knox 73 74 68 81

297 Jeunghun Wang (Kor) 73 77 74 73

299 Richard Sterne (Rsa) 76 79 72 72, Si Woo Kim (Kor) 71 75 77 76, Pablo Larrazabal (Spa) 73 73 75 78

303 Matthew Griffin (Aus) 78 77 77 71

306 K.T. Kim (Kor) 78 75 76 77

Day three report

A spectacular hole-in-one helped Justin Thomas reach the top of a star-studded leaderboard after an incident-packed third round of the WGC-Mexico Championship.

Thomas, who won back-to-back events in Hawaii at the start of the season, holed out with a six iron from 232 yards on the 13th at Chapultepec Golf Club, his tee shot pitching around 15 feet from the flag and taking a big bounce before plummeting straight into the hole.

The world number eight also carded five birdies in a 66 to finish 12 under par and a shot ahead of world number one Dustin Johnson, with halfway leader Rory McIlroy and Phil Mickelson a shot further back.

Johnson wiped out his three-shot overnight deficit by making an eagle on the first and birdie on the second, the US Open champion also picking up shots on the sixth, 13th and 15th.

However, Johnson's approach to the 16th then stuck up in a tree and was declared lost, only for the ball to drop out of the branches after the 32-year-old had already played another onto the green.

"I kind of hit it a little thin so it didn't get up high enough and I heard it clip the tree," Johnson said in a post-round interview broadcast on Sky Sports. "I figured it would be in or just short of the bunker but we couldn't find it.

"I was just laughing. If it's not the greens it's something else that's going against me right now but I'm playing really well, I just have to keep giving myself looks and see what we can go out and shoot tomorrow."

In contrast, Mickelson enjoyed several strokes of good fortune on the back nine and made the most of them with a hat-trick of birdies from the 15th in a hugely eventful 68.

The left-hander looked set to lose a ball after a wild drive on the 10th, only for a spectator to say that he had seen a ball picked up from the search area, thereby allowing Mickelson a free drop.

After making par there, Mickelson then hit further bad tee shots on the 11th and 12th, but each time received a free drop from the bushes as his stance was hampered by a sprinkler head.

Playing partner McIlroy, who is making just his second start of the season after suffering a stress fracture to his ribs, made the ideal start with a birdie on the first, but dropped shots on the next two holes.

The 27-year-old, who can regain the world number one spot with a victory if Johnson finishes outside the top four, bounced back with a birdie on the sixth, but bogeyed the eighth before holing from 20 feet for birdie on the ninth.

McIlroy also birdied the 11th after a superb pitch from left of the green but was unable to make any further gains before eventually signing for a 70.

Ryder Cup team-mate Lee Westwood was a shot behind after a superb back nine of 31 in his 66, with fellow Englishmen Tommy Fleetwood and Tyrrell Hatton on eight under after rounds of 66 and 68 respectively.

Two-time major winner Jordan Spieth carded a course-record 63 to finish seven under par.

Day two report

Rory McIlroy made a mockery of his lack of competitive action so far this season by surging into the halfway lead in the £7.9million WGC-Mexico Championship.

McIlroy's only previous appearance in 2017 had come in the South African Open in January, when he lost out to Graeme Storm in a play-off despite suffering from what was subsequently diagnosed as a stress fracture to his ribs.

The 27-year-old still arrived in Mexico City knowing that he would reclaim top spot in the world rankings for the first time since August 2015 by winning his third WGC title, as long as current number one Dustin Johnson finishes joint fourth or worse.

And the four-time major winner was ideally placed to fulfil his part of the bargain after a second round of 65 at Chapultepec Golf Club which left him two shots ahead of Phil Mickelson, Justin Thomas and England's Ross Fisher.

Johnson carded a 66 to end the day in a share of fifth place with Andy Sullivan and Daniel Berger, Sullivan holing his approach to the ninth for an eagle before adding birdies on the 11th, 15th and 16th in a superb 65.

"Overall great," was McIlroy's reaction in a post-round interview broadcast on Sky Sports. "Going out starting the day I would have taken a 65 but I had a great chance for birdie on 16, three-putt 17 and then miss from short range on 18.

"I'm in a great position, leading going into the weekend, but I feel like I could have been a few more ahead.

"I tried to approach this week not with low expectations, but just to see how it went, take each day as it came and through the first two days I'm in a good position.

"My body feels good, which is the most important thing I think, and if I can continue to play the way I have I've got a great chance this week."

McIlroy started the day by driving the green on the short par-four first before three-putting for par, but then birdied the second, fourth, sixth and ninth to reach the turn in 31.

After a bogey on the 12th, McIlroy hit back in style with a birdie on the next before enjoying a stroke of luck on the 14th, where his approach landed 15 feet left of the flag but kicked back onto the green and rolled into the cup.

There was nothing fortunate about another birdie on the par-five 15th, but the Northern Irishman then three-putted the 17th - and threw his ball into a greenside water hazard in frustration - before seeing his close-range birdie putt on the last lip out.

Mickelson had earlier showed few ill effects after being forced to change his caddie early on day two, with Jim Mackay lasting just three holes before being forced to leave the course due to a stomach virus.

Fortunately for Mickelson, his brother Tim had been alerted to the problem and was on hand to take over on the bag, with the pair combining for a 68 containing four birdies and a solitary bogey.

"He's irreplaceable, he's one of the best in the business," Mickelson said of Mackay. "He's so good at club selection and here at altitude that's where he is invaluable, but he's hurting.

"But on the positive side I had a lot of fun with my brother. He's a good player in his own right, a scratch player who understands the game and has caddied for many top players.

"He does give me the needle but I think that's so funny and keeps me relaxed. He has a few stories about me that I wish he didn't which can be challenging, but he's fun to be around.

"As a college golf coach for many years he understands smart strategy and he was there if I needed to talk through some stuff."

Day one report

Rory McIlroy overcame a stomach complaint to make an excellent start to the WGC-Mexico Championship on his return to competitive action.

The world number three had played just once in 2017 due to a rib injury which saw him push through the pain barrier before losing to Graeme Storm in a play-off for the South African Open in January.

The 27-year-old still arrived at Chapultepec Golf Club knowing that he could reclaim top spot in the world rankings for the first time since August 2015 by winning his third World Golf Championship title, as long as current number one Dustin Johnson finishes joint fourth or worse.

And the four-time major winner was pleased with an opening three-under-par 68 which left him just a shot off the clubhouse lead shared by Lee Westwood, Ross Fisher, Phil Mickelson, Jimmy Walker, Jon Rahm and Ryan Moore.

Starting on the back nine of a course which reaches a maximum of 7,800 feet above sea level, McIlroy holed from 15 feet for birdie on the par-five 11th and added seven pars in succession to reach the turn in 35.

The four-time major winner then drove into a greenside bunker on the short par-four first hole and got up and down for birdie to reach two under par, while Johnson ran up a double bogey after hitting his tee shot out of bounds.

McIlroy dropped his first shot of the day by three-putting the fifth from long range, but produced the ideal response by holing from 30 feet for an eagle on the par-five sixth. Johnson birdied two of his last four holes to finish one under.

In quotes reported by the Daily Telegraph, McIlory said he was not sure what had caused his stomach problem, adding: "I ate with Erica [Stoll, his fiancee] and my parents and they seemed fine this morning. But I haven't eaten so I'm a little weak."

He added in an interview on Sky Sports: "The rib is fine, it's great actually. How I've responded the last couple of weeks, ramping up the practice and then playing my first full competitive round today, I didn't feel it at all, so it's all positive in that regard.

"I probably could have played the Honda (Classic) last week but I wasn't going to know how my body was going to react playing four days in a row.

"I'm taking next week off to see how everything reacts and responds so it was the logical place to come back. I stayed patient and the week longer will definitely pay off."

Westwood, who is seeking a first WGC title at the 56th attempt, enjoyed a two-shot lead after playing his first 13 holes in six under par, but bogeyed three of the last five.

In contrast, Mickelson birdied the 15th and 18th in pursuit of his first victory since claiming a fifth major title in the 2013 Open Championship at Muirfield.

"This is an incredible challenge for all of us because we're dealing with a great mixture of holes, but more than that dealing with distance control," the 46-year-old left-hander said.

"All the guys out here are so great at distance control that you are always seeing them pin high, but it's a real challenge to do that here because of the difference in how far the ball goes."

Open champion Henrik Stenson withdrew with a reported stomach virus midway through his opening round.