Dustin Johnson would be a threat to run away if he ever put it all together from 100 yards and in during a major championship.
That was the sense former world No. 1 David Duval got watching Johnson come up short again last summer at the U.S. Open at Chambers Bay.
“There are a lot of long players in the game of golf right now, but he is the long of the long,” Duval said during “Live From the Masters” on Tuesday. “It’s unbelievable what he does with the golf ball. He dismantled the par 5s. If he can manage his game a little bit better, from inside of 100 yards, with his wedges, and make a couple of putts . . . You think back to Chambers Bay last year, if he makes anything, he wins that golf tournament by four or five shots.”
Johnson lost the U.S. Open at Chambers Bay by a shot after hitting a brilliant drive and an equally brilliant approach shot to 12 feet at the 72nd hole, setting up a putt for eagle to win. He missed the putt and a 4-footer for birdie that would have forced a playoff.
Masters Tournament: Articles, photos and videos
“As much as anything, it is inconsistency with the putter,” Duval said. “If you go through his round on that Sunday at Chambers Bay, he should have had six putts to win on the last green. That’s how well he played. I think, clearly, to the eye test, he was playing better than anyone else that week. He hit it so good, and he just really could not get the golf ball in the hole. You can even back it up through the back nine of that final round. The contest could really have been over quickly, if he makes anything, the putts you would expect a world-class player to make.”
Johnson, 31, had three top-10 finishes in majors last year, including the Masters. Two of his best chances to win a major came in 2010, at the U.S. Open at Pebble Beach and at the PGA Championship at Whistling Straits. He took a three-shot lead into the final round at Pebble Beach but closed with an 82. He had a one-shot lead going to the last hole at Whistling Straits but was penalized for grounding his club in a bunker. He also gave himself a chance on the back nine in 2011 at The Open Championship at Royal St. George’s, where he tied for second.