YOUR No.1 PROBLEM
Johnson will relish the challenge with target on his back but McIlroy can push him says Harmon
REFORMED party animal Dustin Johnson will relish playing his first Major as world No.1 with a “bullseye on his back”.
That’s the verdict of his coach Butch Harmon who reckons Rory McIlroy will target DJ in a battle royal between the top two in the world at the Masters which tees off today.
No world No.1 has won at Augusta since Tiger Woods in 2005. Johnson has shown fellow signs of his American’s old dominance with three consecutive wins since February to rise to the top of the rankings. The 2015 winner Jordan Spieth, Rickie Fowler and Japan’s Hideki Matsuyama are all in-form contenders. But Harmon says the US Open champ is the man to beat – with world No.2 McIlroy his biggest rival. He said: “You look at guys who
have been No.1 and didn’t stay very long and weren’t comfortable with it and got out of their comfort range. “You look at the ones who were so good at it, Tiger being the best. He handled the situation well and DJ will handle it well too because he’s embraced it. He is a cool customer, very confident.
“He has a tremendous amount of confidence in his own ability. He likes being the man, being the guy with the bullseye on his back every tournament because that’s how he plays anyway. So it wouldn’t surprise me if he won.
“It is very hard to say yes, someone is going to win, but he has to be the favourite going into it and Rory would be right there with him.”
Bad boy Johnson missed the 2014 Ryder Cup as he took six months out of the game to address “personal issues”. And he also had a hard-won reputation for choking in Majors.
But he’s now expecting his second child with fiancee Paulina Gretzky and Harmon said: “He and I have had a lot of chats about him not realising his vast potential.
“He has matured a lot in his personal life, in his golf life and every part of his life. DJ is a free spirit. You want all the guys to have a life, they deserve to have a life.
“But DJ is a little bit of a partier and didn’t work as hard as he could because his natural talent carried him.
“I think he realised that and
we woke a sleeping giant and he’s starting to see the fruits of his labour.” McIlroy has played only three strokeplay events this year due to injury but revealed this week he has had 99 holes of practice at Augusta as he bids to complete his career Grand Slam. Harmon said: “Rory feels comfortable at Augusta. What he has to do, the same with Dustin, is they just have let their game speak for itself. If you go in there and try to push it, it’s not a course you can push on, you have to let it happen.” Ryder Cup captain Thomas Bjorn has backed McIlroy to take out Johnson in the Europe v USA showdown. The Great Dane said: “It’s very much dependent where Rory is with his game. “He is about the only one who can stand up to Dustin the way he has been playing. Jason Day and Jordan Spieth probably come very close but Rory is the only one who can match and even beat him if he gets his game going.
“If those two get going with their ‘A’ games then they are going to be very difficult to keep up with. If they both bring their ‘A’ games Rory has something about him. He’s just more graceful. It just looks so natural. Dustin is a bit more of a powerhouse.
“A lot of it would come down to the course. Rory with his game should manage this course better than DJ and better than he has done. This was the Major we all thought he was going to win first. This should suit Rory perfectly.
“He drives the ball so well. People say it’s wide but I don’t think it’s that wide. There are some wide holes but there are a couple of tee shots where you have to be spot on.”
Bjorn picked Aussie Marc Leishman and Justin Rose as his outside bets and said: “Justin should do better here. He has the game and the personality to do much better. The course suits him well.”