Dustin Johnson

Johnson broke through for his first major title with a three-stroke win over Jim Furyk, Shane Lowry, and Scott Piercy at the 2016 U.S. Open at Oakmont (Pennsylvania) Country Club. He entered the final round trailing 54-hole leader Lowry by four strokes before a final-round, one-under 69 (which included a one-stroke penalty for his ball moving on the par-4 fifth green) led to his victory. The win came in his 193rd PGA Tour start at 31 years, 11 months, and 28 days. With the victory, he became the first player to follow up a runner-up finish at the U.S. Open with a victory the following season since Tiger Woods (2007-08). Others included Payne Stewart (1998-99), Jack Nicklaus (1971-72), and Bobby Jones (three times). Sunday's final marked the 12th consecutive round in a U.S. Open that he had been ranked sixth or better on the leader board, dating back to the first round of the 2014 U.S. Open. With eight consecutive rounds, Tiger Woods (1999-2000) and Payne Stewart (1998-99) are next on the list in the modern era. All three players won during their respective stretches.
Johnson's grandfather, Art Whisnant, played basketball at South Carolina and was a three-time All-Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC) selection in the early 1960s. Dustin could palm a basketball as a seventh-grader and can still dunk the ball. He was a first-team All-American at Coastal Carolina for two seasons, winning seven times during his career. He represented the USA on the winning 2007 Walker Cup Team and turned professional shortly after.
Johnson advanced through all three stages of Q-School in 2007 to qualify for the PGA Tour. He won at least once a year in his first 14 seasons on the Tour, including 2021. The streak ended in 2022. He played on 2010, '12, '16, '18, and '21 USA Ryder Cup teams and the 2011, '15, '17, and '19 Presidents Cup teams.
2011 Notes: Johnson's fourth full season on the PGA Tour ended with a career-best 4th-place finish in the FedExCup standings. His victory at The Barclays made him the first player since Tiger Woods to go directly from college to the professional ranks and win in his first four years on the Tour. He was one of six rookies on the victorious U.S. Presidents Cup team but struggled to a 1-3-1 record at Royal Melbourne G.C.
2012 Notes: Johnson was hampered by a back injury sustained while lifting a jet ski at his home and consequently missed two months of the competition after the WGC-Cadillac, including the Masters. He returned strong, finishing T-19th at the Memorial, then winning the following week at the FedEx St. Jude Classic. He ended the year eighth in the FedExCup standings and 19th on the money list. In his second consecutive Ryder Cup appearance, he went 3-0-0 at Medinah C.C. in the U.S. loss. He made five birdies in a five-hole stretch on the inward nine in his singles match against Nicolas Colsaerts to win 3 & 2.
2013 Notes: Won the first event of the season, the Hyundai Tournament of Champions, after play was delayed three days due to strong winds and heavy rain. Despite an opening-round 75 and a triple bogey in the final round, he was runner-up at the RBC Canadian Open. He finished three strokes behind winner Brandt Snedeker. One of six top-10 finishes on the season led to a 13th-place showing in the FedExCup, and his fifth consecutive top-15 finish in the season-long points race.
2014 Notes: Johnson won the WGC-HSBC Champions in his first start after finishing 24 under par. His brother, Austin, served as a caddie at the Sheshan International Golf Club in Shanghai, China. With the win, Johnson had captured at least one title per year going back to 2008. Also finished T-2nd at the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am and Northern Trust Open, then a T-4th at the WGC-Cadillac. In May, Johnson finished T-7th at the Byron Nelson. In June, he placed T-4th at the U.S. Open. Finished T-12th at the British Open, then withdrew from the RBC Canadian Open, announcing he was taking a leave of absence from golf for personal reasons. Despite the leave, he finished 30th in the FedExCup standings and 12th on the money list. He also would have earned a spot on the U.S. Ryder Cup team. He did not return to golf until six months later.
2015 Notes: Johnson missed the cut in his first tournament back, the Farmers Insurance Open, but finished T-4th in his next start at the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am. At the Northern Trust Open the following week, he lost to James Hahn on the third hole of a playoff when Hahn made a birdie. Two weeks later, he entered the final round of the WGC-Cadillac Championship trailing J.B. Holmes by five strokes before a final-round, three-under-par 69 led to a one-stroke victory over Holmes, the largest comeback in the tournament's history. The win was the ninth of his career and his second in a WGC event (2013 HSBC Champions), making him one of eight players with at least two wins in the series. His week at the Cadillac included a hole-in-one at the par-3 fourth hole during the third round. The achievement made him the first player to have an ace and win the same week since Steve Stricker at the 2011 Memorial. He finished T-6th in his next two starts at the Valero Texas Open and Masters. He also had a top-10 result with his T-8th finish at the AT&T Byron Nelson. He lost to Jordan Spieth at the U.S. Open, his 25th major championship appearance. Two great shots at the par-5 72nd hole led to an eagle putt attempt from just over 12 feet to win his first major, but when the ball missed to the left, he missed the short return putt that would have forced an 18-hole playoff with Spieth on Monday. He finished runner-up with Louis Oosthuizen. The result made him winless in four attempts when playing in the final pairing at a major championship. The others were the 2010 U.S. Open (T-8th), the 2010 PGA Championship (T-5th), and the 2011 U.S. Open (T-2nd). The finish was his ninth top-10 in a major. At the British Open, he led after the first and second rounds but shot 75-75 to finish T-49th. He ended up T-7th at the PGA Championship after leading in the first round. In the four majors, Johnson had a share of the lead after the first round at the U.S. Open, British Open, and PGA Championship; the lead after the second round of the British Open; and a share of the lead after the third round of the U.S. Open. He had top-10s in three of the four FedExCup Playoffs: T-9th at The Barclays, T-7th at the BMW Championship, and T-5th at the Tour Championship. He finished 7th in the final FedExCup standings and 5th on the money list. He went 3-1-0 in his four Presidents Cup matches.
2016 Notes: He started the year with a T-5th at the WGC-HSBC Championship and did not have another top-10 until his 4th-place finish at the Northern Trust. He lost to Louis Oosthuizen in the quarterfinals (T-5th) at the WGC-Dell World Match Play. He was 3rd at the Shell Houston Open, T-4th at the Masters, and 3rd at The Memorial. Shot a final-round 63 to finish 5th at the FedEx St. Jude Classic. The next week, he won the U.S. Open. He captured at least one title in each of his first nine seasons on the PGA Tour, the longest current streak. By comparison, Tiger Woods won in his first 14 seasons (1996-2009). Posted a four-under 276 winning score, the lowest tally in the nine U.S. Opens hosted by Oakmont Country Club. Owns eight top-10 finishes in his last 10 major championship starts, with 12 top-10s overall in majors. He won in his next start at the WGC-Bridgestone Invitational, posting back-to-back victories for the first time in his career. Shot consecutive rounds of 66 on the weekend to rally from three shots behind at the start of the final round for his third career World Golf Championships victory. Finished two groups ahead of 54-hole co-leader Jason Day, who dropped four strokes in the last four holes to finish T-3rd, three strokes back. Joined Tiger Woods, Ernie Els, Geoff Ogilvy, Rory McIlroy, Justin Rose, and Martin Kaymer as players with victories at the U.S. Open and a World Golf Championships event and becoming the ninth player with at least one major championship victory and multiple World Golf Championships wins. Overtook Jason Day at No. 1 in the FedExCup standings, the first time he was ranked first in the standings since winning the 2013 Hyundai Tournament of Champions. He became the first player since Jordan Spieth in 2015 to win his next start after winning the U.S. Open. He earned his 11th PGA Tour title and 10th top-10 finish of the season. He added another top-10 with a T-9th finish at the British Open. He continued his streak of top-10s with a T-2nd at the RBC Canadian Open, where he was just a stroke behind winner Jhonattan Vegas. It was his sixth consecutive top-10 and 12th for the year. The streak ended the following week at the PGA Championship, where he missed the cut at Baltusrol. In the FedExCup playoffs, he started slowly with a T-18th at The Barclays and T-8th at the Deutsche Bank before winning the BMW Championship. He finished T-6th at the Tour Championship but had to wait for the playoff results between Rory McIlroy, Ryan Moore, and Kevin Chappell to see who won the FedExCup race. McIlroy won the playoff, and Johnson finished second. In his third Ryder Cup appearance, he went 2-2 in the 17-11 U.S. victory. He ended the week at Hazeltine on a high note with a 1-up singles victory over Chris Wood. He ended the year with a T-3rd finish at the Hero World Challenge.
2017 Notes: After finishing T-6th at the SBS Tournament of Champions and T-2nd at the Abu Dhabi Championship, one stroke behind winner Tommy Fleetwood, Johnson missed the cut at the Farmers. Then he went on a streak, finishing 3rd at the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am, followed by wins at the Genesis Open, WGC-Mexico Championship, and WGC-Dell Match Play Championship. With the win at the Genesis, he took over the top spot in the Official World Golf Ranking, becoming the 20th player to achieve that standing. The Genesis win also meant he stays on the list that includes (but is not limited to) Arnold Palmer (17: 1955-1971), Jack Nicklaus (17: 1962-1978), and Tiger Woods (14: 1996-2009) as players to win at least once on the PGA Tour in each of their first 10 seasons. With the win at the WGC-Dell Match Play, where he played 112 holes during the week and never trailed in a single match, he became the first player to win all four World Golf Championships. He took his hot streak to the Masters but unfortunately had an accident in which he fell downstairs in his Augusta rental home and injured his back. I was unable to loosen up the next day and had to withdraw. A month later, he returned and finished T-2nd at Wells Fargo, one stroke behind winner Brian Harman. He struggled in missing the cut at The Memorial and the U.S. Open. In a way, it's understandable since his fiancee Paulina Gretzky gave birth the Monday of the U.S. Open to the couple's second child, a boy. He finished T-54th at the British Open and T-8th at the RBC Canadian Open. He went into the FedExCup Playoffs fourth in the standings and won the first event, the Northern Trust, for his fourth win of the season. He was not in contention at any of the last three playoff events and finished the year fourth in the final FedExCup standings. Making his third Presidents Cup appearance, Johnson turned in a dominating 4-0-1 record, leading the U.S. to a 19-11 victory.
2018 Notes: He made his season debut at the World Golf Championships-HSBC Champions and led going into the final round by six shots but struggled to a 77. Finished T-2nd, two shots behind Justin Rose. At the Sentry Tournament of Champions, he shot a final-round 65 to win by eight strokes, his second win at Kapalua. He placed T-9th at Abu Dhabi and T-2nd at the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am. He owned a share of the third-round lead with Ted Potter, Jr., who won the event when Johnson shot 72 to finish three strokes back. Finished T-7th at the WGC-Mexico Championship. In defending his WGC-Dell Technologies Match Play title, he lost all three of his matches, finishing T-59th. He was T-10th at the Masters and T-8th at The Memorial. Won for the second time in 2018 with a six-stroke win over Andrew Putnam at the FedEx St. Jude Classic. Johnson made the victory even sweeter when he holed his second shot for eagle at the 72nd hole. Finished 3rd at the U.S. Open, shooting a final-round 70 to end up two strokes shy of Brooks Koepka. Held a share of the lead in each of the first three rounds and fell to 0-for-3 in majors when leading/co-leading through 54 holes (2018 U.S. Open/3rd, 2015 U.S. Open/T-2nd, 2010 U.S. Open/T-8th). Became the 10th player to hold at least a share of the lead in the first three rounds at the U.S. Open but not win (first since Phil Mickelson in 2013). At four-under 136, he held a four-stroke lead at the midway point. Marked his fourth top-5 in his last five U.S. Open starts (3rd/2018, Won/2016, T-2nd/2015, T-4th/2014). After missing the cut at the British Open, he won the following week at the RBC Canadian Open by three strokes over Whee Kim and Byeong Hun An. Became the first player since Tiger Woods (2005-09) with at least three wins in three consecutive seasons. He entered the final round in a four-way tie for the lead before recording a six-under 66. With a closing round of 64, he finished T-3rd at the WGC-Bridgestone Invitational, five strokes behind winner Justin Thomas. In the FedExCup Playoffs, he had two top-10s, a T-7th at the Dell Technologies Championship, and a 3rd at the Tour Championship. He played 20 events, making 19 cuts with 12 top-10 finishes. He ranked 4th in the FedExCup standings. In his fourth Ryder Cup, he went 1-4-0, losing to Ian Poulter 2-up in singles. Was 7th at the Hero World Challenge.
2019 Notes: Played in 19 PGA Tour events, making 18 cuts with seven top-10 finishes. He was 29th in the FedExCup standings. Finished T-4th at the Sentry Tournament of Champions, then on a trip to the Middle East, won the Saudi International. Finished T-9th at the Genesis Open and won by five over Roy McIlroy at the WGC-Mexico Championship. He was T-5th at The Players and T-6th at the Valspar Championship. He finished T-2nd at the Masters, his fourth consecutive top-10 at the Masters. He closed with birdies on four of his last six holes but finished a stroke behind winner Tiger Woods. He was the third-round leader at the RBC Heritage but shot a six-over-par 41 on the back nine to finish T-28th. At the PGA Championship, he started the final round seven strokes behind leader Brooks Koepka but shot 69 and finished 2nd, two strokes behind Koepka. Shot 71-74 on the weekend at the U.S. Open to finish T-35th. In the FedExCup playoffs, he started well at the Northern Trust, holding the 36-hole lead before shooting 74-73 over the weekend to finish T-24th. Was T-57th at the BMW Championship and T-29th at the Tour Championship. On September 5th, he underwent arthroscopic surgery to repair cartilage damage on his left knee. He started chipping and putting four weeks after the surgery and didn't hit longer clubs until eight weeks after the surgery. Wasn't ready to play at the Hero World Challenge, but was able to play in the Presidents Cup in mid-December. He played in four matches, compiled a 2-2 record, and won his singles match with Haotong Li 4 & 3.
2020 Notes: Played in 14 PGA Tour events, making 11 cuts with seven top-10 finishes. Won the FedExCup race. He was T-7th at the Sentry Tournament of Champions. In defense of his Saudi International crown, he finished 2nd, two strokes behind winner Graeme McDowell. He was T-10th at the Genesis Invitational. Returning from the break, he missed the cut at the Charles Schwab, finished T-17th at the RBC Heritage, and won the Travelers Championship by a stroke over Kevin Streelman, highlighted by a third-round 61. He missed the cut at the Memorial, shooting 80-80, his highest 36-hole score ever, and after a 78, withdrew at the 3M Open, citing a back injury. He got back on track at the WGC-FedEx St. Jude Invitational with a T-12th finish, shooting four sub-par rounds of 69-68-68-67. This started a hot stretch: He finished T-2nd at the PGA Championship, two strokes behind winner Collin Morikawa; and at the Northern Trust, he shot rounds of 67-60-64-63, his 30-under-par total winning by 11 strokes over Harris English. His win marked the third score of 254 or better in PGA Tour history and the third score of 30-under par or better (first on a par-71 layout). The 11-stroke winning margin was the largest on the PGA Tour since Phil Mickelson won the 2006 BellSouth Classic by 13. Johnson shot an 11-under 60 in the second round, his first career 18-hole score of 60 or better on the PGA Tour. He played well the next week at the BMW Championship but lost to Jon Rahm on the first hole of a playoff when the Spaniard made a 68-foot birdie putt to win. The next week, Johnson won the Tour Championship, his second win of the FedExCup playoffs and third of the season, clinching the FedExCup title for the first time in his career. It marked his 23rd career win on the PGA Tour, and with it, he became the 27th player in PGA Tour history to reach 23 career victories. He did not make a start in the fall portion of the season due to injury and was 103rd in the FedExCup standings before his Travelers Championship win. Ended the season ranked No. 1 in the Official World Golf Ranking.
2021 Notes: Played in 21 PGA Tour events, making 17 cuts with nine top-ten finishes. He was 8th in the FedExCup standings. He finished T-6th at the U.S. Open in September. He was scheduled to play in the CJ Cup @ Shadow Creek but experienced COVID-19 symptoms late Sunday before the event and on Tuesday that week, tested positive for the coronavirus. He felt better but thought it best to withdraw from the following week's Zozo Championship. In his first event back, at the Vivint Houston Open, he shot rounds of 72-66-66-65 to finish T-2nd, two shots back of winner Carlos Ortiz. The next week he won the Masters, collecting his second major championship title and 24th career PGA Tour victory. Johnson won by five shots as he held at least a share of the lead after each round. Johnson's 20-under-par score of 268 was the lowest score in Masters history, breaking the 72-hole record by two strokes. Johnson also became the first player who was number one in the Official World Golf Ranking to win a major since Rory McIlroy did it at the 2014 PGA Championship. He was the first No. 1 to win the Masters since Tiger Woods did it in 2002. It was also the ninth time a player won the Masters after finishing runner-up the year before. After the victory, Johnson was sentimental about growing up less than 100 miles from Augusta National. He had dreamed of winning the Masters since his days of relentlessly practicing at the Weed Hill driving range, which is now an apartment complex. As a kid, my dream was to win at Augusta National.
After finishing T-11th at the Sentry Tournament of Champions, Johnson won the Saudi International a second time by two shots over Tony Finau and Justin Rose. Johnson finished T-8th at The Genesis Invitational. He missed the cut in defense of his Master's title; next week was T-13th at the RBC Heritage. He planned to play in the AT&T Bryon Nelson the week before the PGA Championship but withdrew, saying he was experiencing discomfort with his surgically repaired left knee and would instead work on his rehabilitation at home. He played in the PGA Championship but missed the cut. He was T-10th at the Palmetto Championship and T-19th at the U.S. Open at Torrey Pines the next week. At the British Open, he shot 67 in the final round to finish T-8th, but eight shots back of winner Collin Morikawa. At the WGC-FedEx St. Jude, he shot a final round 70 and dropped into a T-10th. In the FedExCup playoffs, he missed the cut at the Northern Trust and was T-6th at the BMW Championship. Shot 65-66 over the weekend to finish seven back of the Cantlay/DeChambeau playoff. He ended the season 8th at the Tour Championship. In his fifth Ryder Cup at Whistling Straits, Johnson put together one of the greatest performances in Ryder Cup history. Johnson went a perfect 5-0-0, becoming the fifth player in history to post that record and the first American to do it since 1979. He capped the week by beating Paul Casey in the singles 1 up.
2022 Notes: Played in 12 PGA Tour events, making 9 cuts with three top-ten finishes. He had a slow start to his season but did finish T-8th in defense of his Saudi International title. His game seemed to come around when he shot 63 in the final round of the Players Championship to finish T-9th. He was T-39th at the Valspar but looked good at the WGC-Dell Match Play. He won all three matches against Mackenzie Hughes, Matthew Wolff, and Max Homa in his group. He beat Richard Bland 3 & 2 and Brooks Koepka 2 up before losing to eventual winner Scottie Scheffler and then to Corey Conners in the consolation match. He was T-12th at the Masters, missed the cut at the PGA Championship, and T-24th at the U.S. Open. He was T-6th at the British Open, seven shots back of winner Cameron Smith.
2023 Notes: Back pain in January forced him not to play in Saudi International. He was T-48th at the Masters, T-55th at the PGA Championship, T-10th at the U.S. Open, and missed the cut at the British Open.