KIAWAH ISLAND, S.C. — Think of it as a little maintenance and a lot of peace of mind for Dustin Johnson.
The world’s top-ranked golfer had his left knee checked out last week after withdrawing from the Byron Nelson. He spent the week at his home in Palm Beach County, had an MRI and put together a plan with his doctor and physiotherapist.
The result: He’s feeling better and just in time for the PGA Championship, which is being played in his home state.
“It just didn’t feel right,” Johnson said about the knee he had arthroscopic surgery on 20 months ago. “I got an MRI, everything was fine … and just put together a little bit of a plan to get a little bit stronger. It feels good, though.”
Johnson said the knee has been “off and on a little bit” for the last six months, which coincides with his game. Since a stretch in which he finished in the top 12 in 10 consecutive starts, with three firsts including the 2020 Masters, Johnson has been outside the top 25 in five of this last six, including missing the cut at this year’s Masters.
Johnson, though, is not putting it all on his health.
“Mix of everything,” he said. “I feel like it’s been close the past few months, just haven’t put it all together at the same time.
“But everything feels really good right now. I’ve got a lot of confidence coming into this week.”
And just in time for the home crowd.
The last time Johnson played the challenging Ocean Course was the 2012 PGA Championship, which Rory McIlroy won by eight shots with a 13-under. Johnson was 5-over and finished tied for 48th with a second-round 79 on a day when the stroke average was 78.
Prior, Johnson only remembers playing a junior event or two on the seaside course. He was raised in Irmo, S.C., about 140 miles from Kiawah Island and then starred at Coastal Carolina University. Yet, he cannot remember winning a significant tournament in his home state.
This would be one to remember.
“It’s going to be a really tough test,” Johnson said. “It’s long … hitting long clubs in. So you know, especially when the wind is blowing how it has been the last few days, even the downwind holes are tough just because it’s hard to stop the ball.”
Johnson played mostly from the tips of the 7,876-yard course during his practice rounds and says he used every club in his bag, one of those being a 7-wood he added before last year’s PGA at Harding Park.
He was searching for a hybrid he could get up in the air and land softer than his 3-iron.
“I hit it a few times, really liked it, and it’s been in the bag ever since,” he said. “Hit a lot of different shots with it.”
Johnson is chasing his third major to go along with the 2016 U.S. Open and last year’s Masters. He was runner-up in the last two PGA Championships, two shots behind Collin Morikawa last year and two behind Brooks Koepka in 2019 at Bethpage Black.
Johnson was asked which of the two is more annoying.
“Both of them,” he said. “They are all annoying.”
Winning this one would go a long way toward getting over those close calls.
“(The PGA Championship) is definitely on the top of the list of things that I haven’t accomplished and something that I really would like to,” Johnson said. “It would be great obviously to do it here in my home state.”
from Golfweek https://ift.tt/3ysQmeW