Since signing for LIV Golf in 2022, Dustin Johnson’s Major appearances have been largely disappointing, with just two top 10 finishes in 12 starts at the big events.
Despite that, his confidence doesn’t appear to have taken a knock ahead of his return to Oakmont for the US Open, the venue for his victory in the tournament nine years ago.
One thing working in Johnson’s favor ahead of his appearance at the Pittsburgh course is some encouraging LIV Golf form, including T10 at last week’s event in Virginia, and the 40-year-old doesn’t think his game is too far away from getting back to its best - although he admitted there are some things he needs to work on if he is to compete at Oakmont.
He told reporters: “I feel like my game's been really close. 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. I didn't - you know, 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.”
Among Johnson’s string of disappointing outings at Majors recently was a missed cut at the PGA Championship. However, he doesn’t think his 12-over across his two rounds at Quail Hollow told the full story of his performance.
“I know my score didn't reflect it at the PGA, but I actually played way better than the score,” he insisted. “I just struggled a little bit on the greens. Well, maybe that's an understatement. I struggled really bad on the greens.”
Johnson was also confident his game was moving in the right direction before The Masters, telling reporters at the time that he didn’t think it was too far off the form that saw him win at Augusta National in 2020.
That also resulted in a missed cut, although he remains adamant that he is as close as he’s been in some time to rediscovering his best. He added: “The game is definitely in a lot better shape than it was a few months ago.”
Johnson also refuted suggestions that his move to LIV Golf had taken away crucial sharpness from his game, adding: “Golf is a strange sport. 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 also insisted he’s not feeling any more pressure to perform, despite LIV Golfers generally only facing the best of the PGA Tour four times a year. He adeed: “No, not really. It's still a Major. It's still the same amount of pressure no matter where you're playing. Yeah, it's a championship. I'm looking forward to playing in it this week and hopefully can contend.”
