What is, what might have been and what could still be of Dustin Johnson’s quest for greatness

NORTON, Mass. - His laser show of ball-striking prowess utterly overwhelming in THE NORTHERN TRUST, Dustin Johnson was forced from TPC Boston late in Sunday's final round by the ferocity of Mother Nature. Impressive as that thunderstorm was, it lasted just 75 minutes and wasn't about to put a halt to this dominating performance that Johnson had been putting together for four days in the FedExCup Playoffs opener. So, with the lights out, a light rain falling, and evening upon the TPC Boston stage, Johnson returned to apply seven more strokes to a masterful performance that came close to setting records in a variety of ways. RELATED: Final leaderboard | FedExCup standings | Inside DJ’s bag Closing with a bogey-free 8-under 63, Johnson finished in 254 strokes, one off the 72-hole aggregate record, and at a beefy 30-under, again one shy of the PGA TOUR record for four rounds. As wonderfully as Harris English performed (64-66-66-69), he played a role that others used to have when Tiger Woods was in his 2000 prime. Good gracious, those who finished third (Daniel Berger, 67-266) and fourth (Kevin Kisner, 66-267; and Scottie Scheffler (71-267) were 12 and 13 behind, if we saw correctly through our binoculars. But regarding Johnson's inability to establish the records, no one was offering condolences. Not when this 36-year-old freak show who is equal parts power, precision, and uncanny consistency tossed down numbers in an awe-inspiring performance that even met the man's approval. "My ball-striking was unbelievable," said Johnson, who at the end of 72 holes was ranked No. 1 in proximity to the flagstick with approaches, an impressive 28 feet. When you couple that ball-striking brilliance with the fact that he hit all 18 greens Sunday after having hit 15, 17 and 15 each of the previous rounds; that he led the field by requiring a mere 104 putts; that he was No. 1 in Strokes Gained: Tee-to-Green; that he was tied for third in driving distance; and that he has been certified as unflappable, well … it didn't seem to be a fair fight. And, oh, how his numbers put a polish on his performance. • He had at least one eagle each round, five in all. Sunday's came at the par-5 second as he wasted little time in building upon the five-stroke lead over Harris English with which he began. • With his second win of the year, Johnson is now sitting with 22 career victories, tying a legend of the previous generation, Raymond Floyd, as well as two classic names from years gone by, Johnny Farrell and Jim Barnes. • After a relatively pedestrian start on Thursday left him 4-under and tied for 20th and three off the lead, Johnson played his first 11 holes Friday in 11-under, then the next in 15-under. For the week he had 23 birdies, five eagles, and three bogeys that were like gnats, barely noticeable. • As always, it is worth mentioning that Johnson has won at least once in every one of his 13 PGA TOUR seasons, the sort of remarkable consistency that is rarely seen in this era of deep fields. • Given that there were so many layers of excellence delivered by Johnson, it was nearly lost in the falling darkness that he returned to No. 1 in the Official World Golf Ranking. • And before the critics bemoan the power game that is pro golf in the year 2020, study a stat that deserves attention. Johnson beat the field scoring average by 2.328 on Thursday, then simply went silly. He was 9.529 better than the field average Friday, 5.329 better Saturday, 6.343 better on Sunday, and 5.882 better overall. Digest. Marvel. Admire. All of this coming, by the way, a few weeks after folks would suggest that Johnson did what he seems to do frequently - he let a chance to win a major championship get away. His history at the biggest tournaments has been well-chronicled, but the 2020 PGA Championship at TPC Harding Park should go down as one that Collin Morikawa won, not that Johnson lost. And what he did at TPC Boston should go down as definitive proof that the man's picture should be in the dictionary next to the word resilient. How does he explain his ability to shake things off, to not let anything bother him? To pile excellence onto disappointment time and time and time again? "It's pretty easy when we've got big tournaments every week," he said. "I didn't feel like I really did anything wrong at the PGA. It wasn't something that I was disappointed in." If there was one final goal for him Sunday, it was to reach 30-under, because "I've never shot 30-under for four rounds." So, in the darkness and with only a few dozen folks watching, Johnson got it up-and-down from in front of the green at the par-5 18th and reached that magical number. Only it wasn't magical enough. The record is 31 under. Unruffled as ever, Johnson laughed. "Oh, that's all right. Next time." There was good laugher on the virtual press conference, but don't be surprised if he means it. There will be a next time.

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Xander Schauffele is quickly becoming big everywhere. He’s big in San Diego where he was born and raised and where he honed his golf at high school and college. He’s big in Las Vegas where he recently moved with his wife and was last week awarded the keys to the city. He’s big in Germany where his father Stefan grew up and dreamed of being an Olympic level decathlete before a car accident stunted that. He’s big in Wisconsin after celebrating in epic fashion, perhaps a little too well, with fans in the aftermath of recent Ryder Cup glory. And he’s really big in Japan where his grandparents reside and where he returns this week for THE ZOZO CHAMPIONSHIP around two and a half months after winning the gold medal at the Tokyo Olympic Games. But Schauffele has desires of being bigger. The four-time PGA TOUR winner might be small in stature but he’s massive in heart. And he’s a straight shooter. Despite having a career resume some players spend a lifetime failing to achieve, this 28-year-old evaluates his 2021 as barely acceptable. For the second consecutive season he went winless on the TOUR but did pick up the gold medal and was impressive in the Ryder Cup going 3-0 in the team section before losing to Rory McIlroy in Singles. “I feel not that I failed on the PGA TOUR season, but I didn’t really accomplish what I wanted to. And I did get worse in certain categories throughout the year,” Schauffele says. “But I was able to step up to the plate in tournaments that don’t count for the PGA TOUR… it’s an interesting feeling. “I feel like I’ve had success, but then again I missed out on a lot of things that I wanted to accomplish. So, a weird space that I’m in mentally, but overall, I think celebrating the Ryder Cup win with my teammates sort of got me over the edge of feeling like I failed this season.” The categories Schauffele speaks of were his driving stats and his approach game from 80-140 yards. He was eighth on TOUR in 2020 in Strokes Gained: Off-the-Tee at +0.648 but dropped to 41st and +0.266 in 2021. His driving accuracy fell from 60.31% to 58.83%. As for his approach game – well his approaches from 75-100 yards went from average 16’3” proximity to 18’10” and from 125-150 yards he went from 20’8” to 22’10”. “I usually don’t look at my numbers that soon, but we were at the Ryder Cup and they had all the numbers and I’m guilty of wanting to know what they are, so I just asked them and that’s what they told me,” Schauffele said. “So I told them thank you for the kick in the rear end to be better.” His drive and desire are in his suitcase this week in Japan and he’s hoping the good memories flood back and help him to more success. He will also have the gold medal on hand – or more likely Stefan will have it nearby as it’s been tough to pry it from his super proud father. His next step is winning on TOUR again and where better than Japan. The Olympics helped him smash one bugaboo – that of not being able to close from in front. He held on to the gold medal after having the 54-hole lead. He hasn’t been able to do that in the four occasions he’s led with a round to play on TOUR. “Whether it was a par-3 contest out here on TOUR, me winning with a lead, I just had to get over that hump and I was able to do it,” he said. “And the magnitude of the event in Tokyo, obviously with my family and my dad and everyone there and me wanting it more and more and more as I would fail in final groups, there was a lot of pressure sitting up there. So for me to be able to pull it off, especially in that fashion, was a good feeling.” This week his dad, grandparents and mom will again make the trip to watch him play. And the local support has been generous because of his family ties. Outside the Japanese stars in the field, he may be their next favorite. “Everyone’s kind of done the quarantine and travel rules to support me, which is nice. It is extra special to return to Japan,” he says of his family. “And the fans will be the ones that also sort of make it special or make me relive my good moments. I remember the first time we played the ZOZO, I was paired with JT and Rory and it was like five to eight deep on the first hole and people are going nuts. “The people in Japan love golf and it’s always nice to play in front of them, even if it is a limited number. I’m looking forward to it for sure. It’s always really cool to get announced on the first tee as the gold medalist and that will be like that for quite some time which is just nice and I’ll take full advantage of that.” Given it’s been a hectic year for Schauffele he could almost be forgiven for treating the tournament as a celebration week before taking a break. He says he hasn’t really had a chance to let it all sink in. But his competitive nature doesn’t allow for wasted weeks. “I haven’t really had an off season. My brain’s still been in go mode. So I haven’t really had time to sort of sit back and relax and take it all in,” he says. “But I’m not going to make up the numbers. I’m going to try to win. I’m very competitive, I hate losing. Hopefully we can celebrate after another great week there.” Schauffele’s goals don’t stop there. “A FedExCup, major championships, PLAYERS championship, multiple of those… that’s just what I expect of myself and sort of why I get up and go through all the whole process every day,” he adds. Now that really would be bigger. And golden.

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Jack and Arnie. Tiger and Phil. Dustin and Jordan? It’s early, so the rivalry between FedExCup No. 1 Dustin Johnson and No. 2 Jordan Spieth, if one exists, is still just a pencil sketch that could coalesce into a work of art, or not. As the Playoffs roll into TPC Boston for the Dell Technologies Championship, all we know for sure is they’re chummy (they teamed up to go 2-1-0 at the 2015 Presidents Cup in Korea); they play many of the same courses well; and they seem to understand why one might call it a rivalry. “I think everyone wanted a fight to the end,â€� Spieth said at THE NORTHERN TRUST at Glen Oaks last weekend, after Johnson made a 17 ½-foot par putt to force a playoff, which he won with a birdie on the first extra hole. “I think the way it played out, if I had been a fan, I would have been obviously very pleased with the way this tournament went.â€� In other words, Spieth can appreciate how this must look, the intriguing contrast between two vastly different superpowers with vastly different styles, each vying to be No. 1. South Carolina vs. Texas. Early 30s vs. early 20s. Johnson’s thunder vs. Spieth’s sixth sense. Johnson’s stellar beard vs. Spieth’s caddie’s stellar beard. (Take a bow, Michael Greller.) The contrast, of course, gives a rivalry its texture. (Think Golden State Warriors and Steph Curry vs. the Cleveland Cavaliers and LeBron James.) But there must also be familiarity, and in that regard, Johnson-Spieth also works. They see each other a lot, which is partly because of the rare air at the top, and partly because they seem to like many of the same tracks. Each has won the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am (Spieth in 2017, Johnson in 2009, 2010) in Monterey, and the Sentry Tournament of Champions at Kapalua (Spieth in 2016, Johnson in 2013). Although THE NORTHERN TRUST marked their first sudden-death playoff, it should’ve been their second. They were headed for overtime at the 2015 U.S. Open at Chambers Bay before Johnson’s freakish three-putt on the 72nd hole left the trophy to Spieth. D.J. on Spieth: “Jordan is a tough competitor.â€� Spieth on D.J.: “It’s very difficult holding a lead on a difficult golf course when the guy you’re playing with goes bogey-free and doesn’t even really sniff a bogey and shoots 4 under.â€� They’ve combined for seven titles this season, at the Genesis Open, World Golf Championships-Mexico Championship, WGC-Dell Technologies Match Play and THE NORTHERN TRUST (Johnson); plus the AT&T Pebble Beach, Travelers Championship and The Open (Spieth). As we go into the last three tournaments of the Playoffs, Johnson leads all players with 88 weeks inside the top five of the FedExCup standings since 2013. Spieth is in third with 66 weeks. (Jimmy Walker is second at 73 weeks.) Only Spieth has won it all, in 2015. Johnson leads the TOUR in strokes gained: tee-to-green, and has Spieth beat by .802 strokes per round off the tee. Spieth is better in strokes gained: approach-the-green, sg: around-the-green, and sg: putting. Johnson, after Glen Oaks: “If I’m playing my best, yeah, I’ll play against anybody, anytime.â€� Spieth, after the first round of The Open in 2015: “I’ve played enough golf with (Johnson) to where I believe in my skill set that I can still trump that crazy ability that he has.â€� Both have brothers who played college basketball, Steven Spieth at Brown before earning a spot on the Dallas Mavericks summer league team in June, and Austin Johnson at Charleston Southern. Both have a sneaky sense of humor. Upon hiring Austin as his caddie in 2013, Dustin was asked if he’d checked his little bro’s resume. He told CBS Sports he had not—and “probably wouldn’t have believed it anyway.â€� Spieth sometimes remarks on his older caddie’s “Greller belly.â€� Both make fun of themselves, too. Johnson lamented his “weakâ€� fist pump after his par save on the 72nd hole at THE NORTHERN TRUST in New York. Spieth said “I lost my mindâ€� after he holed out from the bunker to win the Travelers and incite rake-tossing delirium in Connecticut. For the record, Johnson and Spieth have been paired together 23 times on TOUR, with Johnson (48-under par) edging Spieth (46-under) in relation to par. Spieth, though, has shot the lower score 12 times to Johnson’s nine, with two ties. They’ve combined to win four of the last 12 majors—with Spieth doing the bulk of the work, with three. (The ledger might look different today if Johnson hadn’t fallen down some stairs before the Masters.) Johnson has 16 wins in 218 career starts (7-percent win percentage); Spieth has 11 wins in 124 starts (9% win percentage). Johnson has 77 top-10 finishes (35 percent), Spieth 49 (40 percent). Neither man has won at TPC Boston, although Johnson has three top-10s and has proven capable of figuring out any course with 18 holes. Ditto for Spieth, who was playing with Phil Mickelson when he fired a final-round 62 to tie for fourth at TPC Boston in 2013. The round became part of Spieth lore, prompting a wide-eyed Lefty to text his pal and then-Presidents Cup captain Fred Couples: “Dude, you’ve got to pick this guy.â€� (Couples did.) Johnson, Spieth and FedExCup No. 3 Justin Thomas, who has won seemingly everything they haven’t, will tee off at 9:15 a.m. ET Friday. They’ll be teammates at next month’s Presidents Cup at Liberty National in New Jersey, but in the FedExCup Playoffs it’s every man for himself. Fist pumps, chest bumps and rake-tossing are encouraged.  

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