THE PLAYERS CHAMPIONSHIP PREVIEW
Can Dustin Johnson finally conquer Stadium Course?
PONTE VEDRA BEACH, FLA. Dustin Johnson does have kryptonite.
It is green and stretches nearly 7,200 yards long. It has a lot of sharp edges. It can strike at any time.
It is the Stadium Course at TPC Sawgrass.
While the world’s No. 1 player has conquered almost every golf course he has played, especially in the last 12 months, the home of The Players Championship has brought him to his knees. In eight appearances on Pete Dye’s problematic layout, Johnson’s best finish was a tie for 28th last year. He has missed the cut once, withdrawn once and racked up four finishes worse than 56th. In 26 rounds, he has broken par six times and finished in the 60s twice.
“I feel like I’m starting to play this golf course a little bit better. But this golf course is tough,” Johnson said Wednesday. “You’ve got to have all facets of your game working if you want to contend around here. You’ve got to be doing everything well because you’ve got to hit all kinds of different shots, every club in your bag, and you’ve got to really control your golf ball.”
He has done all that most everywhere else. In his last five starts, he has gone 3-1-1-1-T2. In his last 21 worldwide starts, he has six wins and 17 top-10 finishes, including three runner-up finishes and three placements of third.
He has nearly a five-point lead in the official world rankings.
The only thing that has knocked him for a loop lately was a flight of stairs in Augusta, Ga. Johnson fell on the steps and injured his back, which kept him out of last month’s Masters. Otherwise, he has been the world’s best.
“He just keeps doing it,” world No. 2 Rory McIlroy said. “He’s on a roll and he keeps going. His lead in the world rankings is huge; it really is. It’s a big lead, and he’s played great and he deserves that lead.
“I don’t think it will faze him being where he is in the world of golf. I don’t think anything fazes him. That’s probably the understatement of the year, but I can’t see him falling off or dropping off.
“It’s up to the other guys to try and catch him.”
When asked how difficult it will be to get back to being No. 1, Jason Day didn’t have to think very hard.
“Well, Dustin Johnson is out there playing pretty well,” Day said. “That usually makes it pret- ty hard when someone hits it 350 yards down the middle and flicks it on with a wedge and holes all the putts.”
Johnson, 32, who has 15 Tour titles, including at least one victory in each season since 2008, got past his major championship hurdle last year when he won the U.S. Open at Oakmont Country Club north of Pittsburgh, one of the toughest tracks in the world. In his mind, if he can win there, he can win here.
“I haven’t had a lot of success around here, so it’s definitely a challenge for me,” Johnson said. “But I feel like if I’m going to play well here, this is the time that I will play well because I feel everything throughout my whole game is in really good form right now.
“I think I’ve got a good game plan for the golf course. It doesn’t matter what you hit off the tee. You’ve got to hit it in the fairway. It’s very important to play from the fairway here so you can control the ball coming into the greens.
“I think the golf course is great. It’s in the best shape I’ve ever seen it. The greens are perfect, fairways are perfect. I’m ready to go.”
“I think the golf course is great. It’s in the best shape I’ve ever seen it. The greens are perfect, fairways are perfect. I’m ready to go.” Dustin Johnson, on the Stadium Course at TPC Sawgrass