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Mexico City • Dustin Johnson didn't flinch when a challenge arrived out of nowhere Sunday, playing mistake-free over the final five holes to win the Mexico Championship in his debut as the No. 1 player in the world.
Johnson's four-shot lead going to the back nine turned into a one-shot deficit when Spanish rookie Jon Rahm ran off an eagle and two birdies at Chapultepec Golf Club. Johnson caught him with a birdie on the par-5 15th, and closed with three solid pars for a 3-under 68.
Rahm had gone 59 holes without a three-putt until taking two in a row at the worst time to fall back.
Johnson was steady right to the end to capture his 14th career victory on the PGA Tour, and his second straight. He reached No. 1 in the world two weeks ago with a five-shot victory at Riviera.
Johnson's last test was from a fairway bunker on the 18th, and he blasted that out to the middle of the green for a two-putt par and a one-shot victory over Tommy Fleetwood of England.
Johnson became the fifth player to win in his first tournament as No. 1 in the world. His fourth World Golf Championship title is second on the career list behind Tiger Woods at 18.
It was quite the consolation prize for the 26-year-old Fleetwood.
His 40-foot birdie putt on the final hole for a 66 put him alone in second and secured a spot in the Masters for the first time. He moves to No. 35 in the world and is certain to stay in the top 50 over the next three weeks before the cutoff to get an invitation to Augusta National.
Rahm's two late bogeys gave him a 68 and a tie for third with Ross Fisher (65).
Justin Thomas, who had a one-shot lead going into the final round in pursuit of his fourth PGA Tour victory this season, fell back with a double bogey from the water on the par-3 seventh and a bogey on the next hole from a bunker. He closed with a 72 and tied for fifth.
HSBC Women's Champions
In Singapore, Inbee Park used self-described "amazing" putting to win the HSBC Women's Champions by one stroke at Sentosa Golf Club.
The South Korean closed with an 8-under 64, making a bogey on the final hole to finish at 19-under 269. Playing partner Ariya Jutanugarn was second after a 66.
Sung Hyun Park (68) was third at 16 under, and third-round leader Michelle Wie (72) was 14 under with 2016 winner Ha Na Jang (69) and Brooke Henderson (66).
Park won in only her second start since the winning at the Rio Olympics. She took the long break to recover from thumb and back problems. Park has 18 LPGA Tour titles, winning for the first time since the 2015 Lorena Ochoa Invitational. —
Sunday's scores
PGA Mexico-World Golf Championships
At Club de Golf Chapultepec
Mexico City
Purse: $9.75 million
Yardage: 7,330; Par 7,330
Final
Brendon Todd, $283,200 73-66-63-67—269 -15 Dustin Johnson (550), $1,660,000 70-66-66-68—270 -14
Tommy Fleetwood, $1,045,000 69-70-66-66—271 -13
Ross Fisher, $497,000 67-68-72-65—272 -12
Jon Rahm (170), $497,000 67-70-67-68—272 -12
Thomas Pieters, $312,500 68-69-68-68—273 -11
Justin Thomas (110), $312,500 69-66-66-72—273 -11
Phil Mickelson (89), $211,667 67-68-68-71—274 -10
Brandt Snedeker (89), $211,667 75-68-66-65—274 -10
Rory McIlroy (89), $211,667 68-65-70-71—274 -10
Tyrrell Hatton, $166,000 70-67-68-70—275 -9
Kevin Kisner (73), $154,000 72-68-68-68—276 -8
Sergio Garcia (64), $131,250 68-71-68-70—277 -7
J.B. Holmes (64), $131,250 69-68-69-71—277 -7
Jordan Spieth (64), $131,250 71-72-63-71—277 -7
Fabrizio Zanotti, $131,250 68-69-72-68—277 -7
Daniel Berger (54), $105,125 70-66-70-72—278 -6
Paul Casey (54), $105,125 74-71-67-66—278 -6
Matthew Fitzpatrick, $105,125 71-67-72-68—278 -6
Rickie Fowler (54), $105,125 69-69-73-67—278 -6
Francesco Molinari (49), $91,333 71-72-70-66—279 -5
Matt Kuchar (49), $91,333 68-71-67-73—279 -5
Andy Sullivan, $91,333 71-65-72-71—279 -5
Jason Dufner (43), $86,000 70-70-72-68—280 -4
Martin Kaymer, $86,000 70-67-75-68—280 -4
Joost Luiten, $81,000 71-67-71-72—281 -3
Hideki Matsuyama (39), $81,000 72-72-66-71—281 -3
Jimmy Walker (39), $81,000 67-74-68-72—281 -3
William McGirt (33), $75,625 72-67-71-72—282 -2
Ryan Moore (33), $75,625 67-73-69-73—282 -2
Lee Westwood, $75,625 67-71-66-78—282 -2
Chris Wood, $75,625 68-73-71-70—282 -2
Branden Grace (25), $70,500 73-69-68-73—283 -1
Bill Haas (25), $70,500 70-69-75-69—283 -1
Mackenzie Hughes (25), $70,500 70-70-73-70—283 -1
Soren Kjeldsen (25), $70,500 75-71-71-66—283 -1
Scott Piercy (25), $70,500 72-73-72-66—283 -1
Hideto Tanihara, $70,500 75-67-67-74—283 -1
Rafa Cabrera Bello (17), $64,000 72-69-71-72—284 E
Pat Perez (17), $64,000 68-71-74-71—284 E
Justin Rose (17), $64,000 70-72-71-71—284 E
Charl Schwartzel (17), $64,000 71-68-70-75—284 E
Jhonattan Vegas (17), $64,000 69-74-68-73—284 E
Bubba Watson (17), $64,000 73-72-68-71—284 E
Gary Woodland (17), $64,000 73-67-74-70—284 E
Roberto Castro (12), $59,000 69-68-74-74—285 +1
Adam Scott (12), $59,000 73-76-68-68—285 +1
Bernd Wiesberger, $59,000 73-70-71-71—285 +1
Byeong Hun An (10), $55,500 73-66-71-76—286 +2
Brooks Koepka (10), $55,500 76-69-68-73—286 +2
Louis Oosthuizen (10), $55,500 73-72-73-68—286 +2
Brendan Steele (10), $55,500 74-71-70-71—286 +2
Emiliano Grillo (8), $52,000 72-77-69-69—287 +3
Mike Hendry, $52,000 71-74-73-69—287 +3
Kevin Na (8), $52,000 75-70-70-72—287 +3
Sam Brazel, $50,000 75-68-70-75—288 +4
Kevin Chappell (7), $50,000 71-77-71-69—288 +4
Alexander Noren, $50,000 76-71-72-69—288 +4
Marcus Fraser, $48,500 71-70-73-75—289 +5
Jim Furyk (6), $48,500 77-71-70-71—289 +5
Zach Johnson (6), $48,500 75-69-70-75—289 +5
Yuta Ikeda, $47,250 75-74-72-69—290 +6
Patrick Reed (5), $47,250 71-76-72-71—290 +6
David Lipsky, $46,625 73-73-75-70—291 +7
Thorbjorn Olesen, $46,625 73-77-68-73—291 +7
Scott Hend, $46,125 76-71-73-73—293 +9
Sean O'Hair (4), $46,125 71-71-75-76—293 +9
Roberto Diaz, $45,625 71-76-71-76—294 +10
Brandon Stone, $45,625 76-73-75-70—294 +10
Danny Willett (4), $45,250 76-72-72-75—295 +11
Russell Knox (3), $45,000 73-74-68-81—296 +12
Jeunghun Wang, $44,750 73-77-74-73—297 +13
Si Woo Kim (3), $44,250 71-75-77-76—299 +15
Pablo Larrazabal, $44,250 73-73-75-78—299 +15
Richard Sterne, $44,250 76-79-72-72—299 +15
Matthew Griffin, $43,750 78-77-77-71—303 +19
K.T. Kim, $43,500 78-75-76-77—306 +22