Somehow, some way, the least reliable man in professional golf has also become its most consistent.
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With victory at the WGC-Cadillac Championship at Doral on Sunday, Dustin Johnson won a PGA Tour event for the eighth season in succession, a streak no other currently active player – not Rory, not Phil, not Tiger – can match.
“It means a lot,” Johnson said at his winner’s press conference, sitting there barely a month after coming back from a six-month ‘leave of absence’.
“Obviously it’s one of my biggest wins, and especially after a long layoff, to come back out and win in my fifth start means a lot.
“I’ve been working hard on my game and been working hard on me, and so it means a great deal to have some success right out of the gate. It gives me a lot of confidence, too.”
This was the Johnson the PGA Tour prefers to present, the preternaturally talented golfer with seemingly every tool required to blossom into a true great of the sport.
Even among a field of great athletes, the 30-year-old is regarded as one of the most physically gifted. At well over six-foot and with a strong, flowing swing that speaks to an innate co-ordination, you can just as easily imagine him pitching in the major leagues or quarterbacking in the Super Bowl as hitting a little white ball into a slightly bigger cup.
There is no real secret to his success on tour. Johnson is big, strong and naturally gifted. He hits it longer than almost anyone, and has a surprising touch around the greens when he is in the mood. With so much going for him, it is almost inevitable he will win once each year, even against the best in the world.
The question, if anything, is why he doesn’t win more. The answer, it seems, is out there – but no-one has yet revealed it.
Johnson’s “long layoff” was almost exactly six months, an absence (which included the FedEx playoffs and Ryder Cup – both of which he would have qualified for) he says was taken to deal with an alcohol abuse problem. Tour rumour said something quite different; that Johnson had failed a third test for recreational drug use and thus had to be banned for six months.
The PGA Tour refuses to disclose its disciplinary proceedings, saying it would only publicly announce a ban if a player had tested positive for a performance-enhancing drug.
Unfortunately, with the truth behind Johnson’s recent absence almost an open secret, on Sunday that left the 30-year-old facing embarrassing question after invasive query when he was supposed to be celebrating his latest big victory.
.@DJohnsonPGA wins his 9th career @PGATOUR victory at #CadillacChamp pic.twitter.com/3ywipNBSax
— WGC-Cadillac Champ (@CadillacChamp) March 8, 2015
“I know you’re celebrating a great victory today,” as one journalist asked, starting off the onslaught. “… I want to be clear: Have you ever flunked a tour drug test?
“No,” Johnson replied curtly. “Thanks.”
To another question, asked why he was so unwilling to talk about his issues, Johnson added: “Because it’s personal and frankly, it’s not really anybody’s business.”
Johnson’s off-course actions are the stuff of Tour legend (his road-side sobriety test after being pulled over by police below is one such example), and very little of it in a good way.
He is not known to be the brightest, to the extent that the veteran US journalist Rick Reilly quipped: “Dustin is so dense, light bends around him.” He might be about the only current active player who regularly shoots scores higher than his I.Q.
For all his stupidity off the course, he has been known to be stupid on it too. Most phenomenally talented athletes gravitate to individual sports over team ones because it allows them to thrive without a reliance on any teammates. With Johnson you wonder whether he went in that direction in order to pursue his whims without it affecting anyone else.
Regardless, he should be very popular with his peers. After all, he might just about be the most generous player going.
Martin Kaymer is one Tour-mate who should thank him. Johnson should have won the 2010 US PGA, the German’s first major, but he infamously mistook a bunker for a waste area.
Graeme McDowell is another who owes Johnson some gratitude. Johnson should have won the 2010 US Open as well, but collapsed in comical fashion within minutes of the final round starting.
Darren Clarke will also have sent his regards for this 2011 Open Championship victory. Johnson having shanked a ball out of bounds on the back nine of the final round.
In some parallel universe, Johnson is heading into The Masters this year looking to finally complete the career grand slam.
As it is, he’s still looking for his first major, with a reputation he will perhaps never shake as the sport’s most wasteful talent.
Perhaps an overdue turnaround is coming, however. Perhaps he is better placed than ever to finally make the step many have long expected of him. His layoff/ban came with benefits – Johnson himself admitted he spent more time in the gym during the period, rediscovering his passion for the game. While he also became a father (with Paulina Gretzky, daughter of ice hockey legend Wayne and once you’ve Googled Johnson’s police run-ins you might want to reward yourself by Googling here. Evidence below).
That always brings a different perspective (becoming a parent that is, not looking at pictures of Paulina Gretzky).
“It’s hard to describe, but from the first day he’s born, your perspective on life completely changes,” Johnson added, when asked about his son Tatum.
“Things that were important aren’t important anymore.
Such a fun day on set with @TaylorMadeGolf !! Can’t wait to see the commercial pic.twitter.com/nMJrcFpKbq
— Paulina Gretzky (@PaulinaGretzky) January 16, 2014
“He’s kind of the only thing that’s really important. Being there for him and being a role model for him.
“It makes life a lot easier I think because there’s just one thing that’s all you think about. It definitely simplifies stuff.”
Hopefully that will simplify things for Johnson both on and off the course.
In recent years 32 was seen as the age that many golfers peaked (Adam Scott and Justin Rose both won their first majors at that age). Johnson is 30 and, with a tour winning record to match anyone with or without his troubles, he should be thinking about finally making that step up.
His brain, not his body, remains the question. But if things have changed upstairs over the last few months, Johnson’s controversial past could simply be the eventful route to a more settled and successful future.
“I like tough golf courses,” Johnson noted. “I general really play pretty well on tough courses.
“So going into Augusta, it’s just another tough course, and I feel like my game is definitely suited for there.”
