Dustin Johnson issues timely reminder ahead of | Golf News

Dustin Johnson hasn’t been at the highest of his sport in current years, but he is feeling optimistic about this week’s U.S. Open.

The national championship is returning to Oakmont Country Club close to Pittsburgh beginning Thursday, and massive names like Rory McIlroy and Bryson DeChambeau are already speaking about the difficult situations. The latter has even made a dangerous change to his sport before the motion tees off.

The USGA plans to keep fast greens and a tough that’s “dense and uniformed at five inches” – despite making a late change to the enjoying situations.

Oakmont final hosted the U.S. Open in 2016, when Johnson clinched his first main victory with a profitable rating of just four-under-par through 4 rounds.

Since 2023, Johnson has only had one top-10 end at a main championship, which was at that yr’s U.S. Open at Los Angeles Country Club.

This yr, he did not make the cut at both majors, including a disappointing begin at the Masters, but he believes his type is bettering and he may very well be a contender for this yr’s U.S. Open title.

“I feel like my game’s been really close,” Johnson mentioned. “I haven’t really got a lot out of it.”

In preparation for this week’s U.S. Open, the 2020 Masters champion competed at LIV Golf Virginia, ending T10 at Robert Trent Jones Golf Club and ending his weekend with a five-under spherical, including three birdies in his remaining 4 holes.

“It was definitely nice to have a nice finish last week,” Johnson mentioned. “I played good every day. I didn’t – you know, still kind of giving away some shots. I need to clean that up a little bit. But played really solid every day, hit it nice, gave myself a lot of opportunities.

“Just still sort of gave some photographs away each spherical that you’ll be able to’t afford to do at a golf course like this.”

Describing Oakmont, he tagged it as “in all probability” the most challenging course he’s ever faced.

Johnson added: “Good reminiscences right here. Obviously it was a long time in the past. I’ve confidence in this golf course because I do know I performed properly, but clearly this week places a lot of strain on the driving force. I really feel like I’m driving the ball actually good proper now. Even from there, though, it would not get a lot simpler. You positively have to hit it in the green if you need a likelihood to win around right here.”

On comparing Oakmont to other tough courses globally, Johnson expressed uncertainty, stating: “It’s arduous to evaluate. I’ve performed some arduous programs, but it all relies upon on the situations. This one’s arduous no matter what — smooth, firm, windy, no wind.”

He stressed the significance of tee shot precision in his 2016 victory, where he triumphed by three strokes and was among the mere four players finishing under par.

Johnson pinpointed his precision off the tee as a key factor in a solid performance, something needed to avoid Oakmont’s thick rough. “I drove it actually straight. I hit a lot of fairways. That was the only cause I shot that properly,” Johnson said. “I do not know, it looks like it is more durable this time around, but that’s just possibly with the little bit of added size. It’s going to make it a little more troublesome.

“But yeah, somehow I figured out a way to get it under par. It was mostly the driving. Obviously even driving it in the fairway here, it’s still really difficult, but I hit a lot of good drives and a lot of good iron shots.”

In spite of current lackluster performances, Johnson hasn’t wavered in self-belief. He famous: “Golf is a strange sport. I don’t feel like I’ve slipped any. My scores haven’t reflected, but it is a really fine line. I remember a few years ago, I missed two cuts in a row. I think I shot 80-80, and then I won the next week.

“For me it is all the time actually close to being good, but just getting back there and protecting it constant which over the final couple months I’m beginning to see a lot of patterns and the sport feels prefer it’s coming back into good type.”

Reflecting on his recent challenges, particularly at the PGA Championship, Johnson recalled: “It was good to finally see the sport progress a little bit. I do know my rating did not mirror it at the PGA, but I really performed approach higher than the rating. I just struggled a little bit on the greens. Well, possibly that’s an understatement. I struggled actually dangerous on the greens.”