Johnson cruises to Masters title, reshapes legacy
Dustin Johnson, in some ways, launched his journey to golf’s summit right here in Northern California.
Not quite 12 years ago, Johnson won the AT& T ProAm at Pebble Beach in February 2009. The next year, he won again at Pebble. Johnson was young, athletic and fearless, unheralded but starting to show glimpses of his abundant promise. Now he lords over the game. Johnson reshaped his legacy Sunday at Augusta National. Just imagine if he had imploded in the final round of this 2020 Masters — another majorchampionship meltdown, another chink in his armor, another layer in his long history of failing to close on the biggest stages.
Oh, he threatened to fall apart again, making two early bogeys. His lead, four to start the day, suddenly stood at one. But Johnson quickly righted his ship and clinically marched to victory, shooting 68 to win by five strokes.
Johnson finished at 20underpar to set the Masters scoring record, supplanting Tiger Woods
( 1997) and Jordan Spieth ( 2015). They each posted 18under in previous victories, though Johnson took advantage of rainsoftened conditions.
“It’s always tough to get it done in a major, no matter how good you’re playing,” he said afterward, during the Butler Cabin ceremony. “I was nervous all day. … I’m just very proud of how I finished off the tournament.”
There never was any question about Johnson’s physical skills. He stands 6foot4, can dunk a basketball without a running start ( at least in his younger days) and effortlessly smacks tee shots into distant galaxies.
But only one of his 23 PGA Tour wins before Sunday was a major, the 2016 U. S. Open. In the final rounds of majors, he created enduring images for all the wrong reasons: impatiently making triple bogey on his way to a finalround 82 in the 2010 U. S. Open at Pebble Beach; grounding his club in a bunker at the PGA Championship later that year; threeputting the 72nd hole to squander the 2015 U. S. Open at Chambers Bay.
Many of those missteps stemmed from poor decisions and sloppy course management. Johnson couldn’t get out of his own way — and that’s what fans would have remembered about him, more than all his wins in regular tour events.
He was 0for4 when holding the 54hole lead at majors before Sunday, including the PGA Championship at Harding Park in August. Johnson played reJohnson spectably in the final round that day ( 2underpar 68), only to see Collin Morikawa shoot 64 to zoom past him.
So this impressive journey around Augusta National showed that Johnson, at age 36, learned from all those earlier pratfalls. Peer past the towering drives, precise approach shots and clutch putts. Johnson played with uncommon discipline, making smart decisions when it mattered most.
One example: Johnson hit a great tee shot on No. 13, the par5 he typically reaches in two shots. This time, with a sketchy lie and some mud on the ball, he shrewdly chose to lay up short of the creek. Johnson still made birdie.
He did the same thing on No. 15, playing it safe, given his lead. That’s the kind of conservative Sunday strategyWoods routinely used to win five Masters titles and 15 majors in all. Bold is not always better. Johnson’s stampede to victory punctuated an eventful fall for him — he tested positive for the coronavirus last month — and thankfully quieted the incessant chatter about bulkedup Bryson DeChambeau, who tied for 34th. As much as DeChambeau crushes tee shots, Johnson hits his nearly as far — and usually straight. He’s the world’s best driver, period.
That’s part of the DJ mystique, as is his uncomplicated approach. One golf writer colleague, Robert Lusetich, posted a tweet Sunday about a tour player telling the story of Johnson and his caddie/ brother, Austin, trying to figure out the distance to a creek with the tee moved up 50 yards.
The math proved elusive, so Dustin finally said, “Bro, just give me the driver.” And then he blasted the ball over the creek, no problem.
Math didn’t get in the way Sunday. Johnson made good decisions, hit good shots and, yes, reshaped his legacy.
This was a victory he long envisioned. He grew up in Columbia, S. C., about an hour from Augusta National, and as a kid, he often pictured himself wearing the coveted green jacket.
That dream became reality after Johnson completed his round and showed rare emotion on the No. 18 green, tearing up alongside his brother. Soon thereafter, Woods, last year’s Masters champion, put the jacket on Johnson.
“Obviously, having Tiger put it on me was awesome,” Johnson said in his news conference. “But any guy could put it on me and I’d be just fine.”