Dustin Johnson: America’s newly found love
It appears the young Dustin Johnson has finally shrugged off the dust to come off age. The winner of last week’s The Barclays on the first leg of the FedExCup Championship, Johnson deserved the victory more than anyone on the field for his remarkable run
throughout the year where he posted runner-up finish at the Open Championship.
The 27-year-old Johnson had been desperately fighting to bag a title on the PGA Tour since the start of the season but for one strange reason or the other, he always ended up down the leaderboard, although just a stone’s throw from the top slot. Johnson
had only one thing to say to his coach Butch Harmon after he walked away from the 18th green at the Plainfield Country Club, “it’s about time”.
“We've both been frustrated all year that he hadn't won,” Harmon said Sunday. “He's been playing well tee-to-green, but his putting has let him down. But this kid is really resilient. Even if he messes up, as we've seen, it's like water off a duck's back.
He keeps playing, and that's his biggest strength. He's a very aggressive player, and he continues to play aggressively.”
Harmon, who is known more because of his long association with Tiger Woods, speaks highly of the young player’s abilities. Being one of the most sought after coaches in the business, Harmon and Johnson decided to start off working together only a year ago
and the relationship apparently has worked just fine for the duo.
The event was curtailed to 54 holes in wake of the impending dangers of the approaching Hurricane Irene which ruptured much of the north-eastern coast. Johnson took the advantage of the rain-softened course to overpower the threatening Matt Kuchar by two
shots.
This was Johnson’s fifth tour victory in his four-year-long career and seventh overall in his professional career. Johnson has now become the only player after Tiger Woods to have won an event every year for the consecutive four years of his start after
graduating.
“Guys like Dustin Johnson can make golf seem really easy,” Kuchar said, who fell for dreadful bogeys on the closing holes ultimately failing to defend the title he won last year. “I don't know if I've seen a guy drive the ball a whole lot better than Dustin
Johnson.”
Johnson’s year-long struggle started off at Doral where he ended runners up after Nick Watney. He played impressive golf at the Royal St. George’s and remained in contention for many of the subsequent events on the tour. The win at The Barclays not only
pushed Johnson to the number four on the Official World Golf Rankings (OWGR), but also helped him bag a lucrative $1.44-million for the winner’s share.
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