An extraordinary final-round collapse by world No. 1 Dustin Johnson left the door open for Justin Rose to barge through at the HSBC Champions in Shanghai today, as Jason Day continued to show an upsurge in form.
Johnson suffered the worst closing-round calamity of his career, carding a five-over par 77 to finish tied-second behind Englishman Rose, who played Nick Faldo to Johnson's Greg Norman.
Rose was brilliant with a closing 67, five-under, to win by two shots from Johnson and Swede Henrik Stenson in the World Golf Championship event. It was just his second WGC victory.
Johnson seemed to have the event at his mercy after a 63 on Friday, and he began the final round with a six-shot lead.
But he began with two bogeys today and could not stem the bleeding. By the time he dropped two more shots at the 15th and 16th holes he had lost the lead; once he reached the par-five 18th he knew he needed eagle to have any chance, and he pushed his second shot with a fairway wood into the water.
Day's 68 to close was the second-best round of the day, including five birdies and four on the back nine when he heated up.
The Australian has had a winless 2017 but seems close to turning it around after he was just outside the top 10 in South Korea last week. The former world No. 1 will come to The Australian Golf Club in Sydney in three weeks with some encouraging signs as he tries to win his first Emirates Australian Open.