Riviera contenders play second fiddle to Dustin Johnson

They spent eight hours Sunday chasing greatness. They could see it for a while, but they could never catch it. And before long, it moved completely out of sight.

By the time Dustin Johnson had birdied the first hole of his final round Sunday in the Genesis Open at Riviera, he had built his lead to seven shots and turned a host of contenders into pretenders. Second place was the top prize up for grabs.

It wasn’t that the challengers were playing poorly. Six of them finished at 11-under par or better, and that would have been good enough to finish at least tied for first in three of the last five years at Riviera. Not this week.

Cameron Tringale, playing in the final threesome with the greatness that was Johnson, stayed close for six holes before falling off the pace. Tringale, a native of Mission Viejo who sported a beard that would have made any lumberjack proud, is still looking for his first PGA Tour victory after 199 starts. He finished at 10 under, tied for eighth and seven shots behind Johnson.

Pat Perez, the third player in the final group, hit more spectators with his tee shots in the third round (three) than he managed birdies (two) and fell entirely off the leaderboard. He finished at five under, tied for 28th.

Wesley Bryan, playing six groups ahead of Johnson, made the morning’s biggest challenge with a 63 but gained only a stroke on the leader.

Bryan won three times on the Web.com Tour in 2016 but is probably best known for the highly improbable trick-shot videos that he and his brother, George, post online. (They’re worth watching).

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Bryan tied for fourth at 11 under.

“We were so far back coming down the back nine — it’s not even worth trying to chase that number,” Bryan said of Johnson’s lead.

Justin Rose, who got to 11 under with a final-round 68, knew fairly early that Johnson was out of reach. “I had in the back of my mind if I could get to 14 [under] today, I might have a chance,” he said. “Clearly, that was not going to have a chance.”

Thomas Pieters, in the field on a sponsor’s exemption, shot a 63 in the final round to finish at 12 under, tied for second with Scott Brown. Still, they were five behind Johnson, who coasted with two bogeys in his last four holes.

Said Pieters: “I think my caddie on nine said, I know you’re not going to win, but … I couldn’t go 14 under on nine holes.”

Phil’s ups and downs

Phil Mickelson bounced back in his final round with a two-under 69 that featured an eagle on the par-four 10th hole, another eagle on the par-five 17th and four bogeys. He finished at four under.

No charge from Spieth

Jordan Spieth, coming off a four-stroke victory at Pebble Beach, stood five shots behind Johnson after two rounds but lost ground on Sunday. He shot 72-69 Sunday to finish tied for 22nd at six under.