Johnson maintains his major confidence
AUGUSTA -- Dustin Johnson doesn’t sound like a player who suffered two devastating finishes in majors last year.
The confident 26-year-old didn’t play like it late last season either.
Johnson bounced back from tough finishes at the U.S. Open and the PGA Championship to win a FedEx Cup event (the BMW Championship) in September. He has finished in the top 10 in three of his eight events this season, as well, including a second-place finish at the WGC-Cadillac Championship in March at Doral at Doral.
“I know what it takes; I know what it’s like to be in the position,” Johnson said about what he took from the U.S. Open and the PGA Championship. “You got to get yourself in position for it to help you at all. So if I’m never in position, then it never will help.”
Johnson found himself in position often in 2010.
The Columbia, S.C., native made 20 of 23 cuts during the 2010 season. He finished in the top 10 seven times, and also won the AT&T Pebble Beach National Pro-Am. He made the Ryder Cup team, finishing with a poor record in four-ball and foursome matches but destroying the current world’s No. 1, Martin Kaymer, in a singles match.
Most, however, will remember Johnson’s 2010 season for his two major championship disappointments.
In the U.S. Open, Johnson showed off his knowledge of Pebble Beach, where he won the Pro-Am in both 2009 and 2010, by shooting a 5-under-par 66 to take a three-shot lead after 54 holes. He fell apart early on Sunday, however, with a triple-bogey on No. 2 and a double-bogey on the third hole. He shot 42 on the front nine and finished with an 11-over 82. He fell from first to eighth, five shots back of winner Graeme McDowell, who entered the final round trailing by three shots.
Johnson did rebound from the loss at Pebble Beach with top-15 finishes at the British Open and the WGC-Bridgestone Invitational.
Johnson, however, suffered his second rough finish of the summer on the final day of the PGA Championship at Whistling Straits.
Heading into the final hole of the championship, Johnson believed he’d earned a spot in a playoff with Bubba Watson and Martin Kaymer
A rules official told Johnson he grounded his club in a bunker, resulting in a penalty that pushed him out of the playoff. Johnson thought the ball rested in a trampled down piece of dirt, but local rules dictated that the ball was in the bunker.
Johnson said he didn’t get too deflated by the PGA Championship finish because he felt he played well enough to win outside of the lapse in judgment on the 72nd hole.
After a week off, Johnson finished ninth at The Barclays and then won the BMW Championship two weeks later. He finished 22nd at The Tour Championship in late September and fifth overall in the final FedEx Cup standings.
Johnson said he believes he can tap into his 2010 season during this year’s Masters for motivation and confidence.
“The game’s getting back to where it was back last summer where I played really well for a lot of events in a row,” Johnson said. “So I’m looking forward to this week and just got to put myself in position.”
This story was originally published April 7, 2011 at 12:00 AM with the headline "Johnson maintains his major confidence."