Johnson’s overnight four-shot lead was whittled down to one within five holes as Cameron Smith and Sungjae Im put early pressure on the American, but he refused to buckle and closed with a four-under 68 for a five-shot victory while setting a new tournament record of 20-under par, eclipsing the previous best held jointly by Tiger Woods and Jordan Spieth.

Three consecutive birdies from the 13th ensured a relatively stress-free march to the title for Johnson, which upgraded to procession status when he avoided water with his tee shot to 16 and safely two-putted to a rare back-right pin position from the lower level.

Rory McIlroy got to within five of the lead with three birdies over the first eight holes, but he managed only one more in a 69 that left him nine behind the champion, while Woods hit the headlines for the wrong reasons after making a 10 at the par-three 12th, including three in the water, although he did rally with five birdies over the last six holes.

Johnson looked a little unsettled on the first tee and drove into the fairway bunker on the right, but he clipped a useful second onto the heart of the green and skipped to the second tee with a par on his card.

Another pushed drive on the second found the first cut, from where he scuffed an ambitious fairway-wood and then got too cute with his pitch and dumped it in the front trap.