Whether you throw a ball or swing a club, all athletes go through varying stages of success and setbacks in their lives. And like every athlete, Dustin Johnson’s successful career has not been without its challenges. There was a time he was #1 and was a dominant force in the golf world. Having turned pro in 2007, and then joined the PGA Tour in 2008. DJ won 24 times on the Tour. With 24 PGA Tour victories, including the 2016 U.S. Open and the 2020 Masters. All of this was not without its challenges. There was a vital moment where a missed putt almost cost him his PGA Tour card and served as a wake-up call to get back on track.
Dustin Johnson reflects on his early PGA Tour days
In a candid moment with Luke Kerr-Dineen from Golf Digest, Dustin Johnson was asked to recall a period when he was grinding the most. Johnson responded with, “I mean, obviously, college put in a lot of time.” He graduated from Coastal Carolina University, and college time is very crucial for any golfer since they are trying to turn pro. Then he delved into the time he struggled on the Tour in his rookie year.
“So I missed a putt; it’s like a three-to-four-footer on the 30, like on the last hole, a horseshoe, a putt to make the cut in the first playoff event in 2008, okay? And because I missed the cut, I didn’t get to play the next week. So obviously I wasn’t too thrilled about that, and so I went back and worked with the coach for a month really hard and then came out and won at Turning Stone, the next event of the fall,” he said. After this missed cut, DJ worked with coach Allen Terrell. He was the one who recruited the golfer to Coastal Carolina and helped him earn his card at Q-School. He also helped him with his first Tour win at the Turning Stone Resort Championship, which he won by 1 stroke, having carded 9 under.
While he continued to work hard ever since college, which reflected in his game with two top ten finishes, including tied 7th at the 2008 AT&T Pebble Beach National Pro-Am, and making the cut comfortably in his first five starts. He even had an impressive score of 18-under at the 2008 Bob Hope Chrysler Classic. But he eventually let the success get to his head and allowed complacency to creep in—”I got on tour, and my first five events I played, I played really well and had a lot of success, and then I think I got a little lazy, like, Oh, this is, you know, it’s easy, I don’t have to put in as much work, and, um, didn’t play very well for, like, the rest of the year pretty much…” when he not only missed 9 cuts since the 2008 Zurich Classic of New Orleans but could barely find his footing for the next 21 events that season.
May 15, 2024; Louisville, Kentucky, USA; Dustin Johnson lines up a putt on the eighth green during a practice round for the PGA Championship golf tournament at Valhalla Golf Club. Mandatory Credit: Aaron Doster-USA TODAY Sports
He continued to emphasize the perils of losing focus and underestimating the demand of the sport when he reached a turning point in his career where his poor performances led to his FedEx Cup rankings drop to 134 in his rookie season— “The turning point for me is, you know, when I didn’t get the top 125 on the FedEx Cup and had to go play well in the fall to keep my card, obviously, so I went home and worked my butt off and came out and won the first fall event.” Johnson’s moment of recall serves as a reminder that the path to being the best is not a straight line, and the minute you take your foot off the gas, you’re going to be tumbling down.
Almost every player, at some point in their careers, has experienced what Johnson has, but only a few would admit it. While it speaks of his determination and resilience, it also speaks of his humble and honest character regardless of what he has achieved for himself in the sport.
Despite being successful on the PGA Tour with 24 wins and having close to 116 top-ten finishes, he moved to LIV Golf in 2022. But was this the right decision, given that his performances have declined ever since?
The struggles continue for DJ
While Dustin Johnson is the second-highest earner on LIV Golf, his performances are declining over time. His debut season turned out to be fruitful for him, but his downfall began at the end of the 2023 season. With 3 victories on LIV, the last being 15 months ago in Las Vegas, he continued to be out of the top 20 in almost seven events in 2024. And his slump has carried into 2025, where he has zero points to his name and a position in the table that sets a new career low for him. In his most recent outing in Hong Kong, he finished rock bottom in the tournament and has failed to finish top five in his last 14 events.
While this is his worst performance since he joined LIV, his major performances haven’t been fruitful either. He has missed the cut in four of the 11 majors since he departed for LIV, against two top-10 finishes, and has also missed the cut in the Masters thrice since winning his Green Jacket. But we have to wait and watch to see if the resilient player will bring back his form as the U.S. Open returns to Oakmont in June, where he won his first major title in 2016.
The post Dustin Johnson Let PGA Tour ‘Success’ Get to His Head as Golfer Reveals Aftermath: ‘Got Little Lazy..’ appeared first on EssentiallySports.
