Dustin Johnson won the shortened Barclays tournament at Plainfield Country Club by two shots from fellow American Matt Kuchar. Johnson has moved to the top of the FedEx Cup points list.
Owing to the threat of Hurricane Irene, organisers decided to reduce The Barclays to 54 holes, with Sunday's play being abandoned. Players were informed of the decision mid-way through the second round.
Matt Kuchar held the lead through 36 holes with Johnson and Vijay Singh a shot back. It looked possible that could be the end result as heavy rain was forecast for Saturday and there were fears the third round would not be completed.
It certainly did rain hard at the start of the leaders' final round but play was able to continue and the round was finished.
It was Johnson who came out of the blocks fastest. He opened with two consecutive birdies then holed from a greenside bunker for an eagle two at the short par-4 4th. Further birdies at the 5th, 7th and 9th meant Johnson was out in a sparkling 29.
Kuchar responded with a birdie at the 11th and, at that point, was tied for the lead. But mistakes started to creep into Kuchar's game from then. He struggled around the green on the par-5 12th and eventually recorded a bogey, three putts at the 13th resulted in another bogey and that left him two shots adrift. It was a gap he was unable to close
Johnson cruised home and colleted his fifth PGA Tour victory and the winner's cheque for $1,440,000. He is now at the top of the FedEx Cup standings, 700 points ahead of Kuchar.
Ian Poulter fired a closing 64 that included four birdies in the last five holes. The effort hoisted him up the leaderboard into a tie for 18th. The move was a crucial one as it pushed him inside the top-100 on the FedEx Cup standings with only the top-100 eligible to play in next week's Deutsche Bank Championship.
Others who snuck into the top-100 were Padraig Harrington and Ernie Els. The South African fired a closing 67 and climbed from 118th in the standings to 99th.
The Barclays Plainfield Country Club, New Jersey Aug 25-27, purse $8,000,000, par 71
1 Dustin Johnson (USA) 66 63 65 194 $1,440,000 2 Matt Kuchar (USA) 63 65 68 196 $864,000 T3 Vijay Singh (Fij) 65 64 68 197 $464,000 T3 Brandt Snedeker (USA) 70 66 61 197 $464,000 5 Jonathan Byrd (USA) 65 66 67 198 $320,000 T6 Brian Davis (Eng) 69 66 64 199 $259,000 T6 Justin Rose (Eng) 67 65 67 199 $259,000 T6 Camilo Villegas (Col) 68 66 65 199 $259,000 T6 Y.E. Yang (Kor) 70 66 63 199 $259,000
Note: Player score in bold signifies Titleist ball usage only Where next? Your vote: The Foremost Golf Monthly Awards
