First-team All-American Michael Johnson finished third in his PGA Tour debut at the Barbasol Championship on Sunday, earning $248,000 after carding a 6-under 65 final round at Grand National in Opelika, Alabama. In four days, Johnson totaled a 17-under 267, finishing a stroke behind first and second place winners Aaron Baddeley and Si Woo Kim.
The former Tiger started his day by tallying five pars on Nos. 14-18 to close out the third round, which had been suspended on Saturday because of inclement weather. He turned the final round into a bogey-free performance with six birdies, three of which on par-5s.
“I really just had one bad swing the whole week,” Johnson said. “It cost me two shots, but I was really proud of myself there. Mentally I was really strong and stayed positive the whole week and played well. I was real comfortable out there and got off to good starts, which is always nice.”
Johnson tied Baddeley and Jhonattan Vegas for the lead at 14-under with his birdie putt on No. 7 and made the turn at the ninth. He birdied three of the last six holes on Nos. 13, 14 and 16 and just missed his putt for birdie on the 18th that would have sent him to the playoff with Baddeley and Kim.
“I birdied seven, and tied for the lead for about 30 seconds,” Johnson said. “I thought I could do it. I needed a good back nine, and I played well. I just missed a couple of 10 footers on 9, 10 and 15.”
With the top 10 finish, Johnson qualified to play at the next PGA Tour event, the RBC Canadian Open held at the Glen Abbey Golf Club in Oakville, Ontario, beginning Thursday.
Johnson, a first-team All-SEC and PING All-Southeast Region selection, had an outstanding senior campaign winning a school record three tournaments at the Primland Collegiate, Mobile Sports Authority Intercollegiate and the Schenkel Invitational en route to breaking the school record for single-season stroke average at 70.37. His five career wins are second only to Jimmy Green’s six for most in school history, while his stroke average ranked second in the SEC and sixth nationally this season.
Former All-American Blayne Barber carded an even par-71 final round to finish in a tie for 47th. He has made the cut in 11 of 22 PGA Tour events this season including a top five finish at the Honda Classic in February.
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