AUGUSTA, Ga. — The four words hung over Dustin Johnson even before his sometime buddy, Brooks Koepka, blurted them out in August: “He’s only won one.” One major. Most golfers, even most in the top 100 in the world, dream of winning one major. Johnson has been dogged by the well-founded belief he should have won more. He is 18 holes from doing it.
As Johnson walked off the 18th green at Augusta National, the whole place felt eerily sterile. There had been no fans, just a few onlookers, and therefore no roars and no sense of history. Twilight was coming too early for a Masters. It felt like a Masters practice round on mute, and this partially, though not entirely, explains why the event is now Johnson’s to lose.
Johnson is probably the best player in the world. He is definitely the best when everybody plays their best. He is surely the best at keeping it simple: Driver, iron, putt, saunter on. Johnson is so good that he took a sharpie to the most annoying tag in golf. Instead of the best player never to win a major, he is the best player only to win one: The 2016 U.S. Open at Oakmont.
He shot a bogey-free 65 to take a four-stroke lead on the field Saturday. His ball-striking has been pure, and he is putting exceptionally well, thanks in part to some help from Hall of Famer Greg Norman. Let’s just hope Johnson didn’t call Norman Saturday night. He doesn’t need to change anything about his putting, and he doesn’t need to talk to a man who famously blew a six-stroke lead to Nick Faldo at the 1996 Masters. Like Norman, Johnson has taken a lot of leads on Saturday night only to go home frustrated on Sunday.
“If I can play like I did today, I think it will break that streak,” Johnson said. “But yeah, I mean, tomorrow, it’s just 18 holes of golf. I need to go out and play solid.”
That’s really all he needs to do: Play solid. If he shoots an easy 70—and nobody shoots as easily as DJ—he probably wins. Abraham Ancer, Sungjae Im or Cameron Smith would have to shoot 66 just to force a playoff. Dylan Frittelli would have to shoot 65. Justin Thomas would need a 64. Possible, sure. But Johnson could also shoot a 66 and win the Masters by a half-dozen strokes.
Thomas said Saturday night that the lack of spectators helped Johnson. There were no distant roars to decipher, no sense of impending pressure. Johnson also doesn’t need that kind of support to get going. He does not feed off the emotion of others.
Johnson’s majors history is a bizarre mixture of excellent play, missed chances and bad luck. He shot 10-under in the first two rounds of the 2015 British Open, only to finish 75–75. He led the 2010 U.S. Open by three strokes on Sunday morning and shot an 82. He three-putted from 12 feet on the 72nd green at the 2015 U.S. Open to lose to Jordan Spieth. In the last two PGA Championships, he was in contention on Sunday and shot a one-under 69 (Bethpage Black, 2019) and two-under 68 (Harding Park, 2019) but did not win either.
This year’s PGA is when Koepka uttered those four words, so damning because they’re so true: “I mean, I like my chances. When I’ve been in this position before, I’ve capitalized. I don’t know. He’s only won one.”
Koepka sounded like maybe he knew he shouldn’t have said that; his voice sort of trailed off. Rory McIlroy said the next day he was taken aback by Koepka’s shot at Johnson. And the truth is that the gap between Koepka (four majors) and Johnson (one) is not as big as Koepka probably thinks. Johnson was probably the best player at the 2018 U.S. Open, at Shinnecock Hills, but anybody going out late Saturday got the worst of a course that the USGA admitted it “lost,” with greens that seemed iced over and conditions where scoring was impossible. Johnson shot a 77. He lost to Koepka by two strokes the next day. Switch that result, and Johnson’s majors record looks a lot different.
Of course, Johnson can’t switch that result. He just has to keep those memories tucked away and play Sunday like he did Saturday. He will tee off early, because CBS wants the Masters to finish before the 4:15 p.m. NFL games, so he doesn’t have much time to think. He won’t have fans hanging on every shot. It’s all set up for him to win the Masters.
“Right now, I feel comfortable with every part of the game,” Johnson said. “So there’s not really anything I need to work on. Tomorrow just make sure I just worry about what I’m doing, not worry about what everybody else is doing.”
Masters history and Johnson’s history both tell us this is far from over. The course usually has its say on Sunday. Johnson usually finds some way to lose. But 2020 has obviously been a different year in so many ways, and this really should be different. Johnson really should play well. He really should win. But if he falls apart this time, it will follow him forever. No fans, plenty of pressure. Sunday should be interesting. Johnson just has to hope it isn’t too interesting.
