Even with so few people around, Jon Rahm could hear from the other side of the Olympia Fields clubhouse that Dustin Johnson had made a 45-foot birdie on the final hole to force a playoff Sunday in the BMW Championship.
Resilient as ever, Rahm went out and made some magic of his own.
From one end of the 18th green to the other, Rahm's putt from just over 65 feet rolled down the ridge and into the cup, setting off a roar so loud it nearly made up for not having spectators.
''I knew how good DJ has been playing. I was expecting nothing else,'' Rahm said. ''I was fully confident it was going to come into a playoff and hoping to win it. Never did I think I would make
another 50-, 60-footer, a couple of breaks in there, to end up winning it.''
The course that all week felt like a U.S. Open delivered the kind of excitement typical of the Masters.
Johnson, a 54-hole leader for his third straight tournament and coming off an 11-shot victory last week at the TPC Boston, birdied three of his opening four holes to open a three-shot lead, dropped a pair of shots around the turn and then delivered in the clutch with his 45-foot birdie putt on the last hole for a 67.
It was only good enough to stay at No. 1 by a slim margin.
He also stays at No. 1 in the FedEx Cup going to the Tour Championship, meaning he will start the chase for the $15 million bonus at 10-under par, two ahead of Rahm, the No. 2 seed.
Rahm won for the second time this year on the PGA Tour, and the 11th time in his career worldwide.
Tiger Woods missed all the action. He made double bogey on his 17th hole for a 71, making this the first time he was over par in all four rounds of a tournament since the Bridgestone Invitational in 2010.
Woods failed to reach the Tour Championship for the second straight year.
He now gets two weeks off before the U.S. Open at Winged Foot, and Olympia Fields proved to be a good test for that.
with files from Associated Press