Dustin Johnson’s Major Question Looms Over OakMont RTURN

Nine years ago, Dustin Johnson, then the no. 3- Ranked Player in the World, Arrived at OakMont and Authored the Defing Moment of His Golfing Career.

Plagueed by Bad Luck and Close Calls to that Point, The Long-Bombing Johnson Enverted the 2016 Us Open Still in Search of His First Career Major-Looking for the Victory that His Rare Combination of Effortless Power and Accuracy Always SAID He was Destined to Secure. But Johnson’s Major Championship Scars Were Deep and Caried a Weight, Even if he’d next let you know it.

There is the Final-Round 82 that saw his saquander a Three -shot lead at the 2010 Us Open at Pebble Beach. Next CAM The 2010 Pga Championship at Whistling Straits, Where Johnson Gareded His Club in What He Thought Was A Trapled Area, Only to Discover It Was Designated as a Bunker. That One-Stroke Penalty Knocked Him Out of the Playoff. At the 2011 Open Championship, Johnson Rode Up the Leaderboard in the Final Round Before Blasting His 2-IRON OUT of Bounds on the 14th Hole to Doom His Claret Jug Chanents. The 2015 Us Open at Chambers Bay Saw Johnson Have a 12-Foot Eagle Putt on the 72nd Hole to Win his First Major. He Three-Putted and Jordan Spiet Took Home the Trophy.

By the time the 2016 us open account around, the 31-year-id Johnson was Surrounded by Questions About What He’d Ever Rise to The Heights Many Envisioned when Tour Scene. That week at oakmont, Johnson Silenced them.

Johnson Was Brilliant at Oakmont. He Gained 2.4 Strokes Per Round Off the Tee. He ranked First in Greens Hit, 11th in Strokes Gained: Approach and Was in the Top 30 in Both Around the Green and Putting. He Won by Three Shots Over Shane Lowry, Jim France and Scott Piercy. He would have been by Four if not for a Questionable Penalty That Rocked the Final Round Until Johnson Made IT Moot.

That was the Day Dustin Johnson Vanquished His Major Championship DEONS and Joined The Framenity He was Born to Be Part of.

Nine Years Later, Things Mostly Look the Same For Johnson.

He Still Saunters Around the Course Seemingly with a card in the world. His Athletic, 6-Foot-4 Frame Still Effortlesly Ships Balls Out InTo The Sky. He Still has that sagger and Demeanor as when he was racking up pga tour Wins. There’s great in his beard now. The tayllormade hat that he Wore for Years Replaced by a For Aces Cap after His Move to Liv Golf.

But

SINCE 2023, Johnson Has Missed Five Cuts in 10 Major Starts. He was on Track to Play the Weekend at the Masters Before Bogeying 17 and Doubling 18 to book a FLIGHT Home. He missed the cut by a mile at the 2025 pga championship. He ha han’t Won on Liv Since Last February in Las Vegas. He is now the 173rd-Ranked Player in the World Per Data Golf, Whiche Couns Liv Golf Events. Per Data Golf’s Adjusted Strokes Gained Metric, Johnson is Gaining 0.40 Strokes Per Round of the Tee this Season. That Ranks 12th on LIV and will have this tied for 31st on the Pga Tour with Steven Fisk. Johnson is lungs Strokes on Approach and Around the Green. He is only gaining 0.03 TEE-To-Green Per Round. That would have this tied for 49th on the Pga Tour with Sami Valimaki.

In 2020, when johnson was Even During His Final Pga Tour Season in 2022, Johnson Gained 1.30 Strokes Per Round Tee-To-Green.

And Yet, He Arrives at the 2025 US Open at OakMont, The Sight of His Crowing Achiefment, Feeling Close As all elite golfers do.

“It was Nice to Finally See the Game Progress A Little Bit,” Johnson Said Tuesday at Oakmont about His T10 Finish at Liv Virginia. “I Know My Score DIDNNTT Reflect it at the Pga, but I actually Played Way Better than the Score. Strugled Really Bad on The Greens.

“Golf is a strange sport,” Johnson Continied. “I don’t feel like i’ve sliped any. Won The Next Week. Game Feels Like It’s Coming Back INTO Good Form.

At Liv Virginia, Johnson Gained 1.39 Strokes Per Round and 0.78 Off the tee. That was his thred-Best Strokes Gained Performance of the Yehind Liv Mexico City and Liv Singapore.

Perhaps the Game is Coming Around for Johnson AS He ARRIVES Back at Oakmont, where a Bigger Question about his Golfing Future is Starting to Loom.

Johnson Needed a Special Invitation To Get INTO The 2025 PGA CHAMPIOSHIP FIELD. The 2025 Open Championship at Royal Portrush Will Be HIS Final Open Championship Exemption from his 2020 Master Win. Johnson is Exempt INTO The US Open Through Next Year’s Edition at Shinnecock, but then his 10-Year Grant from his 2016 Win Runs Out.

Given The Extended Lull in Johnson’s Game, His Age, The Liv Golf Part of the Equism and the Conntant Questions about His Dederation to Bettering His Craft, It’s Fair to Wonder if’re Starting To Exit the Dustin Johnson Era of Major Championship Golf Outside of the Master. Johnson Can Still Receive Exampctors from the Pga of America. The usga and r & a good created a LIV GOLF Exampance that would require him to be the top non-exempt Player in the Standings. He count Grind Through Local and Final Qualifying. All are options.

But as Dustin Johnson Searchs to Get on the Other Side of the “Fine Line” when he can be dusin Johnson Again, The Sand is Pouring Out of His Major Championship Hourglass.

Nine years ago, Dustin Johnson Did What He was Born to Do in Taming Oakmont to Become a US Open Champion at a course where only the elite Win. It was Golf Destiny Realized.

Now, with the Sun Seemingly Starting to Set on His Hall of Fame Career, Dustin Johnson Arrives Back at Oakmont Knowing the Shadows Are Longer Than They’ve Ever Been, But Believeing ​​He Can Still outrun

For Dustin Johnson, That Was Enough in 2016. It has always been engrav. But at oakmont, with reminors of what was everywhere, it’s fair to Wonder if it is Search will yield the desire relics.

If we’ll ever See That Dustin Johnson Again.