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Dustin Johnson smashes record for longest drive on PGA Tour (but it won't count)

 By Dave Kovaleski  March 27, 2018 at 12:19pm
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Tiger Woods once called Dustin Johnson “stupid long” off the tee.

There’s stupid long and then there’s the drive Johnson hit at the WGC-Dell Match Play tournament Friday.

On the 12th hole at the Austin Country Club, where the event was played, Johnson blasted a drive that blew away the official record.

It traveled 489 yards, leaving him with just a chip shot into the 575-yard par 5 hole.

Unfortunately for Johnson, that monster drive doesn’t count as the longest ever recorded at a PGA Tour event.

Since this happened at a match play event, it is not considered the longest official drive. As SB Nation noted, because match play events have different scoring and rules (like gimmes), and don’t always require the player to go 18 holes, the stats are not considered official PGA Tour stats.

Davis Love still holds the official mark with the 476-yard drive he hit during the 2004 Mercedes Championship at the Plantation Course at Kapalua Resort in Hawaii.

Drives of 400-plus yards are not uncommon at the 12th hole at the Austin Country Club. The downhill hole lends itself to some pretty good carry.

While no video of Johnson’s blast was captured on television, you can get a sense for the hole from these 400-plus yarders that Rory McIlroy, Johnson and Jon Rahm hit at the event last year.

McIlroy’s went 410 yards, Johnson’s went 424 yards and Rahm’s went 438 yards.

The one Johnson hit Friday went almost 50 yards farther than Rahm’s.

In the absence of video, one reporter walked off Johnson’s 489-yard drive and identified its landing spot.

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Here’s Johnson setting up for the 85-yard chip shot onto the green.

As impressive as it was, Johnson’s drive isn’t the longest ever recorded on Tour.

In 2002, Woods nailed a 498-yard drive on the 18th in the Mercedes Championship at Kapalua. It’s also listed as unofficial.

So, officially, Love’s 476-yard record stands.

For now.

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Dave Kovaleski
Contributor, Sports
Dave is a lifelong sports fan who has been writing for The Wildcard since 2017. He has been a writer for more than 20 years for a variety of publications.
Dave has been writing about sports for The Wildcard since 2017. He's been a reporter and editor for over 20 years, covering everything from sports to financial news. In addition to writing for The Wildcard, Dave has covered mutual funds for Pensions and Investments, meetings and conventions, money market funds, personal finance, associations, and he currently covers financial regulations and the energy sector for Macallan Communications. He has won awards for both news and sports reporting.
Location
Massachusetts
Languages Spoken
English
Topics of Expertise
Sports




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