JOHNSON’S NOT QUITE BACK YET, BUT HE’S CLOSE
No. 1’s game might be good enough to win at Glen Abbey anyway, Dave Hilson writes.
He’s a lean, mean ball-pounding machine who seems to have it all.
Dustin Johnson is the topranked player in the world who can hit it as far as anyone (his 313.3-yard driving average is second only to Brandon Hagy). He’s also engaged to Canadian royalty in Paulina Gretzky, with whom he recently celebrated the birth of their second child. Until a freak accident, he was separating himself from the crop of young-gun golfers that is starting to dominate the game.
Johnson, who was voted PGA Tour player of the year in 2016, went into Augusta National in April firing on all cylinders. He had won his previous three tournaments and was the favourite to slip on the famous green jacket after becoming the first player in more than 40 years to enter the Masters on a three-tournament winning streak.
Then the wind came out of his sails. Johnson was forced to withdraw from the tournament after slipping down the stairs of the home he was renting for the week, injuring his back.
The six-foot-four American returned to action in May and finished second at the Wells Fargo Championship, followed by a tie for 12th at The Players and a T13 at the Byron Nelson. But he missed the cut in his next two starts, the Memorial and U.S. Open, and could only muster a T54 at the British Open last week.
Now the two-time runner-up at the RBC Canadian Open is back for a fifth time, looking to pick up his first win since March.
“I like this golf course. I’ve played well here the last couple years, and you know, I’m looking forward to it this year,” Johnson said after wrapping up his proam duties at a lush-looking Glen Abbey on Wednesday.
“I feel like my game is starting to turn around, and it’s a good time for it to do that. I have a few big weeks ahead of me, this week, next week (at the Bridgestone Invitational) and then the PGA Championship. I’m starting to see signs of it getting back to form.
“You know how it was before Augusta when I unfortunately injured myself a little bit, but it’s coming around. I’ve been working hard and hopefully we’ll start to see some good things here in the next few weeks.”
Johnson was digging a knuckle into his back on the 17th tee on Wednesday to loosen it up and admitted it hasn’t totally healed.
“I’m still feeling the effects of it,” said Johnson, who owns 15 PGA Tour victories and has won at least once in each of the 10 seasons he has been on the world’s top circuit. “No pain or anything like that, but it’s still a little tight. I’m having to get worked on a good bit just to try to loosen up those muscles and those tendons where it got injured.”
The fact Glen Abbey has given up more eagles and more 320-plus-yard drives than any other PGA Tour course since 2013 suits Johnson’s game well.
“If I’m driving it straight, then I’m going to play really well,” he said. “The fairways aren’t very wide, but if you’re in the fairway, you can attack the flags. The course isn’t very long (7,253 yards from the tips), but you’ve got to be in the fairway so you can hold the greens.”
Though the course is very receptive because of all the rain we’ve had this summer, the rough could cause players some trouble.
Glen Abbey superintendent Andrew Gyba said the “rough is penal.”
“We’re going to be growing it at about a third to half an inch a day,” he said.
I feel like my game is starting to turn around, and it’s a good time for it to do that. I have a few big weeks ahead of me.… I’m starting to see signs of it getting back to form.
KUCHAR MOVING ON
A worn-out and disappointed Matt Kuchar sat at the podium after finishing second at last weekend’s British Open at Royal Birkdale and talked about how he felt.
“It’s crushing. It hurts,” said Kuchar, who was playing in the final pairing of a major for the first time in his career. “To be this close, to be in it with five holes to go, it’s a tough one to take.”
So now that the 39-year-old has had some time to reflect on the British Open, how does he feel?
“It’s a bit bittersweet to be so close and not to win the event, but I’m definitely trying to take as many positives from it as possible,” he said. “Our goal when we start playing as little kids is to etch our names on those trophies. It’s a hard thing to do, playing against the best in the world — it’s a challenging task — but part of what makes us pros out here is resiliency, and you kind of keep plugging along.
“When you get knocked down, you keep moving forward. I don’t necessarily feel knocked down, but it felt like I was dealt a bit of a blow getting that close and not being able to get my hands on the trophy.”
By now everyone knows what happened to Kuchar, who looked as if he had a great chance to beat eventual winner Jordan Spieth.
Spieth had got into trouble on the 13th hole when he hit his drive way off line, but he managed to escape with just a bogey. The 23-year-old wonder kid then went birdie, eagle, birdie, birdie, par to defeat Kuchar by three strokes.
“It was hard, but I certainly don’t feel like I lost it … Jordan Spieth just put on one of the greatest closing stretches in major championship history,” Kuchar said. “When something like that happens, all you can do is tip your hat and say, ‘Well done.’ ”
Kuchar — who happens to own five top-10 finishes in nine appearances at this tournament and seven career PGA Tour wins — is having a great 2017 by most standards. He was T4 at the Masters, T16 at the U.S. Open and then runner-up in England. He also had a T4 at the Memorial. His strong results have moved him up to No. 12 in the world and 17th in the FedExCup Standings.
“It’s been a very nice stretch of golf,” he said. “I feel like I’ve put the work in, I feel like I’ve paid the dues. I’m hoping to continue my good form.”
After what transpired at the British Open, Kuchar deserves a happier ending this week.
CHIP SHOTS
World No. 55 and top-ranked Canadian Adam Hadwin of Abbotsford, B.C., who shot a 59 earlier this season and also won a tournament, says his goal going forward is to “make the Tour Championship and to play the Presidents Cup, which would speak to the kind of year I’ve had and be an incredible experience. One of the biggest things is, I would like to be able to set my schedule for next year and know that I’m in all the majors and in the WGCs.” … The same rib injury that forced Brandt Snedeker to pull out of the British Open last week has forced the 2013 Canadian Open champ to pull out in Oakville. Snedeker also pulled out of the 2015 event at Glen Abbey, that time because of a hip injury.