OAKMONT, Pa. — Dustin Johnson always gives off such an indifferent vibe. Nothing much seems to bother him. He takes things in stride, never too high or low. His comments are kept to a minimum, not so much by design as his nature.
That is a phenomenal disposition for a world-class golfer who has won two major championships and hit a golf ball with such power and precision as to make you gasp.
It also has a way of hurting him at times such as these.
For example, when he’s missed cuts at both the 2025 Masters and PGA Championship, the latter shooting 76-78 to miss by a mile and beat just 12 players, most of whom were club pros.
Or when you look at his LIV Golf League record this year and see that he has just three top-10 finishes in the 54-player league, the best a tie for fifth, and four results worse than 30th including a dead-last 54th in Hong Kong.
And, ultimately, when you consider the financial riches associated with LIV Golf and the well-worn narrative that it might create a comfort level that leads to a lack of success.
Johnson, of course, would never admit that if it were true. His demeanor betrays him in such instances, of course, and can’t convince you that he’s been working at his game or putting in the time or struggling with putting or any of the other reasons that could be associated with a downturn.
“Golf is a strange sport,” Johnson said Monday at Oakmont Country Club. “I don't feel like I’ve slipped any. My scores haven’t reflected, but it is a really fine line.
“I remember a few years ago, I missed two cuts in a row. I think I shot 80-80, and then I won the next week. For me it’s always really close to being good, but just getting back there and keeping it consistent which over the last couple months I’m starting to see a lot of patterns and the game feels like it’s coming back into good form.”
Johnson said a good final round at the LIV Golf Virginia event Sunday to help him tie for 10th is good for his confidence, as is coming back to the place where he won his first major championship.
It came a year after three-putting the final green at Chambers Bay to go from a chance to winning and then tying and then ultimately losing to Jordan Spieth. Later that summer, Johnson had the 36-hole lead at the British Open at St. Andrews, only to shoot over-par rounds on the weekend and fall way back.
There were other major disappointments, going all the way back to 2010 when he was the 54-hole leader of the U.S. Open and shot 82 and later that summer when he unwittingly ground his club in a hazard on the last hole at Whistling Straits to cost himself a place in a playoff.
His victory here in 2016 saw him finish at 4 under par, one of only four players to break par for the week. He led the field in driving accuracy, approach and scrambling. “I drove it amazing that week,” he said.
When he won the Masters in 2020—during the COVID-19-delayed fall Masters—he set a tournament scoring record and appeared unbeatable.
But in his last 12 major championship appearances, Johnson has just a single top-30 finish. That was two years ago at the U.S. Open, where he tied for 10th at Los Angeles Country Club.
All of it has led to the chatter that Johnson is content. He was the first big signing for LIV Golf 2022 and he’s never said anything bad about the PGA Tour or made his decision about anything other than lifestyle. Perhaps it is more comfortable now.
But golf pros are nothing if not competitive and Johnson was LIV Golf’s points leader in its first year. He’s won three times total. And he can still drive it forever, an important factor at Oakmont.
“I feel like my game’s been really close,” Johnson said. “I haven’t really got a lot out of it. So it was definitely nice to have a nice finish last week. I played good every day. Still kind of giving away some shots. I need to clean that up a little bit. But played really solid every day, hit it nice, gave myself a lot of opportunities. Just still kind of gave some shots away each round that you can’t afford to do at a golf course like this.
“It was nice to finally see the game progress a little bit. I know my score didn’t reflect it at the PGA, but I actually played way better than the score. I just struggled a little bit on the greens. Well, maybe that’s an understatement. I struggled really bad on the greens.”
Johnson smiled and chuckled. He rolled with it, which is his way.
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This article was originally published on www.si.com as Dustin Johnson’s Vibe Is Back at Oakmont, Whether His Game Will Be Is the Question.
