No. 1 DJ could leave the rest trailing in his wake
DUSTIN JOHNSON might seem ambivalent about becoming the new World No. 1, but the rest of golf will have to get used to it.
Johnson doesn’t have the burning ambition of Rory McIlroy or Jordan Spieth, who are both desperate to be the world’s best golfer.
But the American could end up staying there for a good while because, quite simply, at the moment he is the best player.
At 32, everything is starting to fall into place for Johnson. He has turned his life around from that enforced break in 2014 when things were spiralling out of control off the course.
Now he has a son with fiancée, Paulina Gretsky, and there is another child on the way. So he is in a good place.
Since he returned to the sport, things have gone inexorably on an upward curve. He’s laid-back and loose and he brings that approach to golf. He won’t lose sleep over his ranking.
Plus he is the most perfect physical specimen. Tall, strong and athletic. You could imagine him playing any sport.
Watching him launch into his mammoth drives is a sight to behold. Long hitters are usually erratic but Dustin flies it straight down the fairway every time.
To underline that, at last week’s Genesis Open, he was partnered with Adam Scott and Justin Rose, who are by no means short. At one hole, Scott hit his drive 308 yards and Justin just beat him with 312 yards.
Johnson’s drive was marked as 342 yards, and straight down the middle. With that sort of prodigious length, there is no course that doesn’t suit him.
To get to top spot, he dominated a very strong field containing seven other members of the world’s top 10.
To win by five around a course as good as Riviera really was a statement of intent.
Johnson knows he has the game to be in this lofty position. Some, like Lee Westwood and Luke Donald, didn’t feel they were truly the World No. 1 when they hadn’t won a Major.
That victory at last year’s US Open was a pivotal moment. He had been threatening for so long to win one. It could open the floodgates.
In Butch Harmon, he also has the perfect coach. Working in tandem with his son, Claude, Harmon has left well alone with Johnson’s swing.
They have been working very hard on the short game and it’s improved out of all recognition in the last couple of years.
Butch will think he has the next best thing after Tiger Woods. All the raw materials are there.
Dustin doesn’t have the natural drive and will to win of Tiger. But that is a work in progress. Tiger was the finished article as soon as he turned pro.
But this guy is so naturally gifted. The secret is not to bombard him with too much information.
If he takes that natural style to Augusta, he will need only a half-decent week on the greens to be the man to beat.