OAKMONT, Pa. — Dustin Johnson’s final competitive stroke before taking aim at winning his first major was a thunderbolt out of the blue. He holed a 21-foot chip in his weather-delayed final-round in Memphis last week for a 63 and another top-five finish on the PGA Tour.
Johnson, ludicrously long off the tee, is ranked 105th on the tour around the greens, which is the short answer for why he has eight top-five finishes, but no victories, in 20 starts since his second-place finish at last year’s United States Open.
Johnson has strung together a dozen top-10 finishes like beads on a necklace since his inglorious defeat last year at Chambers Bay, suggesting he has more than a prayer to win the 116th United States Open beginning Thursday at Oakmont Country Club.