The Limerick Summary: 2017 WGC-Dell Match Play

Winner: Dustin Johnson

Around the wider world of golf: Mirim Lee lapped the field to win by 6 at the Kia Classic on the LPGA; Daniela Darquea won the IOA Championship on the Symetra Tour, becoming the first player from Equador to win on either the Symetra Tour or the LPGA; Casey Wittenberg won the Chitimacha Louisiana Open on the Web.com Tour; Patrick Newcomb won the Honduras Open on the PGA TOUR Latinoamérica; and D.A. Points won the Puerto Rico Open, the alternate field event on the PGA Tour.



Come on now. Is this photo really that much of a surprise?

The final day of the WGC-Dell Match Play played out pretty much as expected, albeit with a healthy dose of drama. When you make it to the Final Four at this event, you expect to see the best players bring their best stuff.

And they did. Bill Haas took Jon Rahm to the 16th hole before losing his semifinal match, and Hideto Tanihara took DJ all the way to 18 before finally losing his. Likewise, Haas took Tanihara 17 holes before finishing 4th.

But the match everybody wanted to see -- Johnson V Rahm -- delivered everything we expected, and then some. DJ built a 5up lead, only to have Rahm storm back with a chance to go extra holes at 18. If there was a downside to the match, it was the bathroom door someone slammed at the worst possible moment during Rahm's eagle chip. It may not have determined the outcome of the match, but it certainly affected Rahm's stroke.

Nevertheless, the question remains. Is this photo really that much of a surprise? After the torrid run DJ has been on -- winning (as of today) his last three events, back-to-back WGCs (a feat achieved only by Tiger before this event) and now becoming the first man to win all four WGCs -- it's hard to say that we couldn't see this coming.

This week DJ will tee it up at the Shell Houston Open, where he'll again be the favorite as he prepares for the Masters -- where, presumably, he'll be the favorite once again. Is the PGA Tour ready for yet another run by a dominant player, especially when that player has won 6 times in only 9 months, including a major and two WGCs?

All I know is that it's a challenge to keep finding unique approaches to the Limerick Summary when they're all about the same player. Fortunately, DJ keeps making history with his wins. That makes it a bit easier...

Of WGCs, he's got four;
Three wins in a row—could be more
Before DJ's through.
What's the poor field to do
When they don't know what might be in store?

The photo came from this page at PGA.com.