Americans falter at the Open on Sunday
Dustin Johnson was in striking distance once again in the final round of a major championship. Playing in the last group at the British Open with eventual champion Darren Clarke, Johnson survived the daunting tee shot on the par-5 14th and safely reached the fairway. When he pulled his two-iron from the bag, he was two strokes off the lead. It was critical for Johnson to give himself an opportunity for birdie or possibly eagle.
The mass reaction to the outcome was a hushed gasp (along with “WTF” on Twitter).
DJ made poor contact and pushed the shot out of bounds, resulting in a double-bogey and basically quashing his chances of catching Clarke.
“You don’t really get too many opportunities to make birdie, so it was definitely a go situation,” said Johnson after the round. “But if I had to do it over again, I’d hit a 3-wood instead of a 2-iron.”
DJ wasn’t going for the green. He was trying to lay up just over the bunkers, near the front of the green. The plan was to hit an easy two-iron with a little draw and then chip-in for eagle, at least that’s how his veteran caddie Joe LaCava envisioned it.
It wasn’t meant to be.
“It was brutal out there,” said Johnson. “I think I held up pretty well. I hung in there all day, made some birdies on the back to get back in there and just unfortunately made the double bogey on 14, which really just took all my momentum out.”
Since last year DJ has developed somewhat of a habit of making costly mistakes at the worst possible times. Exhibit A: No. 2 at the US Open at Pebble Beach last year going into Sunday with a four-shot lead; Exhibit B: Grounding his club on No. 18 at the PGA Championship at Whistling Straits in the “bunker-not-a-bunker” controversy.
No one doubts DJ’s talent. And I don’t think many question his mental game, either. It seems more like it’s a case of a “wrong place, wrong time” phenomenon (perhaps notwithstanding the triple-bogey at Pebble, but that was excused due to inexperience).
“The more I put myself in this situation, the better, the more I learn, the more I understand my game and what happens in this situation,” said DJ. “But you know, I think I did a pretty good job. It was very tough.”
Some players would have let a collapse at the US Open haunt them for years to come, but these misfortunes don’t faze Johnson.
While Phil Mickelson imposed a self-induced amnesia strategy last week, playing the British Open as if it was his first and embracing links golf (because of his dreadful career record at the event), Johnson doesn’t have to force it — he seemingly lets these strokes of bad luck disappear from his short-term memory.
“Dustin really doesn’t think about a whole lot,” said Rickie Fowler, who was also in contention on Sunday, after he finished tied for fifth. “I don’t think he’s going to be too worried about it. He’s someone that gets over things pretty quickly. He’s a great player.
“I love the way he plays the game. He can hit the ball a long ways, and I wouldn’t worry about Dustin. He’ll be fine.”
Few players would have rallied back so quickly from such major disappointments. Less than two months after the blunder at Whistling Straits, Johnson won the BMW Championship.
“DJ’s a fighter,” swing coach Butch Harmon told reporters on Sunday. “He’s trying to win the tournament. He’s not wanting to finish second. He’s trying to win. Darren has been unflappable. Dustin tried to win and it just didn’t work.
“He made one bad swing with that 2-iron and it cost him having a chance. I’m not sure if he would have still won, Clarke was playing so well. That’s just golf, it happens. He’ll be back. He’s one of the most resilient players I’ve ever seen.”
No doubt. Perhaps Johnson will rebound as quickly as this week’s Nordea Masters in Sweden.
“He might go to Sweden and win,” said Harmon, chuckling before pausing briefly, “then again, you know the nightlife in Sweden.”
(AP Photo/Jon Super)
I really don’t appreciate the not-caring by DJ. You’ve blown 3 majors now (or potentially blown). Everyone likes to say it doesn’t affect him, but that’s either annoyingly apathetic or else contradictory to his record. For a “great” player, he doesn’t win all that much. And as a sports fan, the last thing I want is a pro athlete that doesn’t give a crap about winning.
The difference this time is that double bogeys at the British Open (and esp. this course) are basically inevitable. Sometimes the ball bounces out of bounds. I don’t feel like this was quite the choke as the other 2. And really, nobody was catching Clarke this week anyway.
While I agree he’s not “great” yet, he has one 4 times in the last three years. There’s not a lot of guys who’ve won more than that since DJ’s first win in October 2008 (looked up a couple: Stricker’s won 7, Mickelson’s won 5). So I disagree that he “doesn’t win all that much.”
Also, I’m curious how DJ stacks up to Stricker. Steve is a good player, but he’s basically NEVER contended in a major (not since once in 1999). I know that choking is more fascinating, but at some point shouldn’t the media get on Stricker for this failure?
Max, my point was only about DJ not caring about losing majors. And he has won a few, of course, but let’s all be careful about crowning players as “great” when the don’t deserve the hype. Stricker was never labeled as such, so everything he wins is a bonus in the eyes of the media. Ironic, since if anyone other than Tiger and Phil deserve to be called a great golfer, it’s Stricker. Besides, DJ’s ball didn’t “bounce” out of bounds—it was a garbage swing and a failed 2-iron draw that was pushed a mile to the right. Not exactly an unlucky break on a heaving and mounded course.
Until DJ can close out one of these Majors, he will be viewed as the Michelle Wie of the PGA tour.
“No one doubts DJ’s talent. And I don’t think many question his mental game, either.”
Oh come on! I think many people question his mental game. The meltdown could happen to anyone (and has many times) but then Whistling Straits and RSG are examples of his mental game letting him down pressure.
I question DJ’s mental game. John Jacobs used to tell his students that “even if he could teach them how to swing like Jack Nicklaus, they’d still have to learn to PLAY like Jack Nicklaus.”
Given that, my take is that on tour you can roughly categorize players into 4 groups:
1. Those journeymen who are relatively average both in physical talent and mental abilities – looking to make enough to stay on tour.
2. Those of of arguably average physical talent, who have no choice but to be mentally strong in order compete at a high level (e.g. Ben Crane, Zach Johnson, Padraig Harrington, Tim Clark, Mike Weir)
3. Those who are so physically gifted that they could be on tour from talent alone, however there is no guarantee that they’ll be there mentally in order to compete week-in, week-out(eg. Els, Greg Norman, Fred Couples, John Daly, Adam Scott, Davis Love III, Sergio Garcia, Bubba Watson)
4. Those few who seem to have the best of both worlds (physical & mental) – they are the ones who can reach the top of the sport and stay there for a time (e.g Seve, Tiger, Jack, Vijay, Faldo, Mickelson, Tom Watson)
While many think otherwise, I think DJ is destined to be a solid 3. Physically he’s almost the perfect golfer, but I’m not sold on whether he has the mental fortitude/desire to fully realize his potential. That said, Tom Watson struggled to meet expectations early in his career and figured it out, so it’s possible that could change.
If DJ cared about these less then stellar performances, would the American golf media hammer him (like they do Sergio), or praise him for his fire?
Easy answer..
They both played a really solid tournament. I think DJ is getting closer to a major win. Perhaps a tournament like the PGA is right up his alley and he can go one better this year.
Rickie says DJ doesn’t think much. It’s hard to think when you’re stoned out of your mind. It wouldn’t surprise me if he is on some kind of meds. Media keep saying DJ is a star, the dude has the charisma of laundry basket. I need to get stoned every time just to sit through his interviews.
If you’re gonna hit a shot that starts out towards the out of bounds line, you better be damned sure that you are going to be able to curve it back in. As bad a shot as it was at the wrong time, it was a worse mental mistake. There were still holes to play in the tournament. You have to hit a shot that is going to give you a chance to gain ground, but not one that is going to kill you if you miss. To me the 2 iron is such a wishy washy play to begin with. If you’re gonna lay up, then grab a six iron and lay up. If you’re gonna go at the green, take out the lumber and hit it up by the green. Just like the bunker situation with the PGA, the caddie has to take a bit of the blame here too. I, for one, wish that someone would light a fire under DJ’s ass and get a mean streak going. If you’re gonna play balls out, then do it 100 percent.
Hard to believe the plan was to lay it up in front of the green and chip in for eagle! He should have gone for the green and at worse 2-putted for birdie. It ends up being another dumb play by DJ and he loses again. He might learn someday, but it’s doubtful. Nice guy, but likely the dumbest player on the PGA Tour.
I contend again that DJ contending in majors is FAR better than, say, a Stricker who never even comes close. But I guess not even trying to contend is a great strategy to maintain your reputation, but getting into contention and losing labels you “the dumbest player on the PGA tour.”
At least DJ is there on Sundays in majors, on a pretty regular basis now. THIS IS AWESOME. How many he’ll turn into victories, I don’t know. But getting into contention is the first step.
Of course, you all thought Rory sucked after the Masters too…
I thought the idea of Joe LaCava was to talk him out of stupid shots like that, or at least help determine the best approach. That being said, it looked to me that he cold shanked it, so there isn’t much planning that can avoid just a shockingly poorly executed shot. The 2 was supposed to be the safe play! I agree he acts, talks, and walks like a Spicoli of Golf.
@PJ – great job on the categorization, pretty much concur and with the slotting of DJ. At this point, Fowler goes into the same basket, as does Rory I would say until he proves otherwise over a 5 yr run at least.
It’s fair to say that DJ has only “choked” away one major, the Open at Pebble. He did not “choke” at Whistling Straits. He did not make the playoff there because of a rules violation. But he hit some super clutch shots down the stretch. That 6 iron he hit on the 17th (223 yards) and the ensuing birdie putt is superman stuff. Most mortals would just lay up from Dustin’s lie on the 18th, but he cleared the hazard and made a tremendous up and down.
Perhaps Dustin’s curse is that he makes golf look so easy at times that the public and media just expect him to do extraordinary things at all time. I believe when he wins his first major, he will probably blow away the field, ala Rory at Congressional. Then everyone will crown Dustin the new King of golf. Then Tiger will come back and everyone will have to pretend we never kicked him when he was down.
@Brian S: I was starting to think I was the only one who thought he shanked it!
Very strange shot choice alright. The “chip in for eagle” idea is weird for a start, instead of hitting 3 wood and hoping to two-putt. But I thought the riskiest thing was that he tried to draw it into the green. In other words, start it at the OB stakes and work it back in bounds.