MIAMI: Dustin Johnson and Jon Rahm advanced to the final of the World Golf Championships Match-Play Championship, setting up a showdown between world No. 1 and one of the game's brightest stars.
Johnson defeated Japanese star Hideto Tanihara 1-up Sunday in the semi-finals of the $9.75 million PGA Tour event.
Spain's Rahm had an easier time ousting Bill Haas 3 and 2 as the winners will square off in the championship match Sunday afternoon.
Former FedEx Cup champion Haas and Tanihara will play for third place on the Austin Country Club course in Texas.
Johnson, who won the World Golf Championships-Mexico Championship earlier this month, is seeking to become the first player to win each of the four World Golf Championships events, with this being the only one missing from his trophy case.
He took over the top perch in the world golf rankings by winning his last two tournaments, the Genesis Open and the WGC Mexico. He seeks to become the first player to win three straight starts on the PGA Tour since Rory McIlroy in 2014.
Johnson could also match Tiger Woods as the only players to win consecutive WGC events.
Tanihara made Johnson work for the victory as he almost delivered the biggest upset of the tournament.
Tanihara can look back on the week with pride as he earned his best PGA Tour finish, topping his two top-10 finishes in 43 previous career starts. He joins Toru Taniguchi as the lone players from Asia to reach the semis of this event.
For some time now Rahm has been a rising star in the sport. He is a former world No.1 amateur and he's showing the ability to transition that success to the big stage.
If Rahm beats Johnson in the championship match he will jump inside the top-10 of the official world golf rankings and he's set to move to fourth in the FedEx Cup standing.
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