However, after a first-round four-under 66 at LIV Golf Jeddah at Royal Greens Golf & Country Club, it looks like he is finding that form that saw him dominate last year.

“I played really nicely,” said Johnson, who won the Saudi International over the same course here in 2019. “The conditions, the wind is blowing good, so it played pretty tough. One bogey, but other than that, it was really solid all day long. Felt like I was always giving myself good looks, and yeah, really pleased with the round.

“Anytime you’ve had a lot of success at a golf course, I enjoy coming back and playing here. The course suits my eye. I feel like I play it well. Yeah, I like playing here.

“I would have liked to have played a little better individually coming into here [this season], but it’s golf. You can’t play good all the time. But I still try to. But I think I have played OK this year.

“I could sneak into that third spot [in the season-long Individual Championship race] if I win this week maybe, which would be nice, too.”

With an eye on the Team Championship next week in Miami, DJ is looking to finish the season on a high to get him back on track to take his form into the next campaign.

“Yeah, for sure, but it’s a long off-season, so I’ve got a little work to do. But yeah, we’ll finish off the next two weeks, I’ll take a nice little break, and then I’ll get ready for next year.”

Main image: Dustin Johnson. LIV Golf

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Dustin Johnson is not a part of this year’s United States Ryder Cup team. According to the two-time major winner, that fate has more to do with where he plays than how he’s played.

Johnson, speaking to the Palm Beach Post, said he believes he would have been selected to the American squad had he not moved to LIV Golf.

“I would love to be a part of the team,” Johnson told the Palm Beach Post. “But to be honest, I haven’t really played that well, this year. But have I played well enough to be on the team? Yeah. I didn’t have the best year. Was it good enough to make the team? I think so. If I would have been playing on [the PGA Tour], yeah, I would have made the team. Do I think I can help the US team? Absolutely.”

Johnson, 39, was LIV Golf’s first major signing when the new circuit announced its rosters in spring 2022, reportedly joining the league for nine figures. Following his move, Johnson lost a number of sponsors and eventually parted ways with long-time partner Adidas.

In 2023, Johnson ranks eighth out of 52-qualified players in LIV Golf’s season-long individual standings with two events remaining, and his 4 Aces team are first in the team rankings. However, Johnson was mostly a non-factor in the major championships in 2023, a T-10 at the US Open his only top-45 finish in golf’s four biggest events.

Conversely, Johnson has played in five Ryder Cups in his career, and in 2021 became the first American golfer in four decades to go 5-0 in leading the US to victory. Johnson said he had conversations with US Ryder Cup captain Zach Johnson, and said he expressed his desire to be a part of the team.

“We talked quite a good bit,” DJ said. “He’s a good friend of mine. … But like I said, I didn’t play quite well enough, especially not being on the tour, I needed to really play well.”

LIV Golf events did not receive Ryder Cup points, meaning LIV players could only make a dent in the automatic standings through the majors. Even then, the task was tall, as Brooks Koepka’s PGA Championship win and T-2 at the Masters were not enough for an automatic pick. Koepka did ultimately earn a captain’s pick, meaning there will be a LIV representative at this month’s match in Rome.

The Ryder Cup begins on September 29. The Americans are defending champs, but have not won on foreign soil in 30 years.

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There was nothing weird about his play in Friday’s first round at LIV Golf Bedminster. Dialled in on a tough, challenging course, the Ripper captain opened with a five-under 66 to grab a one-stroke lead over Charles Howell III at Trump National Bedminster.

“A little bit different to last week, which was the goal — especially today,” said Smith, seeking his second individual win of the season after last month’s victory in London.

The Australian star wasn’t the only one having a bounce-back moment.

Charles Howell III of Crushers shot a 67 on day one of LIV Golf Bedminster. Team leaders 4 Aces suffered thier worst-ever team result, a last-place finish in Greenbrier. But with Dustin Johnson and Patrick Reed shooting twin three-under 68s on Friday to share third place on the individual leaderboard, the Aces are tied for second with Stinger, one shot behind the Rippers.

“Definitely shocked, of course,” Reed said about last week. “Our team is way better than finishing last in a golf tournament. But at the same time, you just kind of go to one of those golf courses that doesn’t really fit your eye. If it happens not to fit a couple other guys on the team’s eye, either, you can just kind of get in one of those funks.”

With just three tournaments left in the regular season, a poor result can be costly in both the individual and team races. With Torque winning in Greenbrier, the 4 Aces’ lead was reduced to seven points.

Dustin Johnson. LIV Golf

But after a hot start by the Aces on Friday, and Torque back in the pack in 10th place, it’s an opportunity for the Aces to rebuild their lead and create some separation from the closest chasers. They won at Bedminster last year during a stretch of four consecutive victories.

“Obviously coming in here, it’s a really good golf course, tough golf course. I think our team plays better on courses like this,” said 4 Aces captain Dustin Johnson. “We want to have a good week, and obviously we need to extend our lead a little bit.”

Smith is in his own race for the season-long Individual Champion title. He entered this week in second place, 15 points behind three-time tournament winner Talor Gooch, who is tied for 15th after the first round after shooting an even-par 71.

Trying to chase down Gooch, who has won three times this season, was one of the reasons Smith put in extra work on the range and practice greens this week.

“That was part of the reason for the work … to be the best at the end of the season. That’s what you want to be,” Smith said. “Sure, you want to win tournaments, but I think proving it over 13 tournaments is much better than one.”

TEAM COUNTING SCORES

Here are the standings and counting scores for Friday’s opening round of the team competition at LIV Golf Bedminster. The three best scores from each team count in every round for their total team score. The team with the lowest cumulative score after three rounds wins the team title.
1. RIPPER (-4): Cameron Smith 66, Marc Leishman 71, Jediah Morgan 72
T2. STINGER (-3): Dean Burmester 69, Branden Grace 70, Charl Schwartzel 71
T2. 4 ACES (-3): Dustin Johnson 68, Patrick Reed 68, Peter Uihlein 74
T4. HYFLYERS (-2): Phil Mickelson 70, Cameron Tringale 70, Brendan Steele 71
T4. RANGEGOATS (-2): Bubba Watson 69, Harold Varner III 71, Talor Gooch 71
6. CRUSHERS (-1): Charles Howell III 67, Paul Casey 72, Bryson DeChambeau 73
7. FIREBALLS (E): Abraham Ancer 69, Carlos Ortiz 70, Sergio Garcia 74
T8. SMASH (+1): Jason Kokrak 69, Brooks Koepka 72, Matthew Wolff 73
T8. CLEEKS (+1): Bernd Wiesberger 69, Graeme McDowell 72, Richard Bland 73
10. TORQUE (+3): Joaquin Niemann 70, Sebastian Munoz 73, Mito Pereira 73
11. IRON HEADS (+4): Kevin Na 71, Sihwan Kim 72, Scott Vincent 74
12. MAJESTICKS (+7): Henrik Stenson 71, Laurie Canter 74, Lee Westwood 75

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Fresh off another team victory for captain DJ’s 4Aces in London (can you say, dynasty?), the two-time major champion promptly hopped on a yacht with wife Paulina Gretzky and a few friends and headed for France. Gretzky, naturally, has documented it all on her Instagram story. Seems like a time is being had:

Quite the lifestyle these two have, and they make no apologies for it. You have to respect it. 

Johnson, who just turned 39 a few weeks ago, remains as athletic as ever, as evidenced by the video Paulina posted in one of the most recent frames of her IG story. Check out the FORM on this backflip:

The golf world: imploding

The unbothered king of the sport: pic.twitter.com/NiDXYOQ3xs

— claire rogers (@kclairerogers) July 11, 2023

As unbothered as ever. You think he’s watching the big Senate hearing on Tuesday? Actually, a better question would be, do you think Johnson has any idea it’s happening? We’re going to go with no and no. 

By the way, no coincidence that the next Summer Olympics are in (checks notes) Paris, France. Perhaps DJ can do double duty as a member of the U.S. golf squad and diving team. The athlete’s athlete.

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It’s Dustin Johnson’s birthday and to celebrate Paulina Gretzky showed off her golf swing to the internet’s glowing approval.

On Thursday, Golf dot com’s Claire Rogers posted a drive from The Great One’s daughter, and it quickly became one of the few tweets in Golf Twitter history with unanimous approval.

Paulina! pic.twitter.com/DF4Ex5aCbk

— claire rogers (@kclairerogers) June 22, 2023

“Paulina!” really says it all here, as Gretzky’s swing looks better than the majority of our staff’s. That’s a hell of a lot of rotation and clubhead speed, and the comments underneath the original post are overwhelmingly positive. “Yeah swing is getting Gooooooood!!” says one user. “Her move is so good,” writes another. Even the doubters have to give it to her: “That is not bad at all. Far better than what I was expecting.”

Dustin Johnson tuning up for the PGA Championship by giving Paulina Gretzky a late-night golf lesson. pic.twitter.com/BeOjMc3YXH

— Alex Myers (@AlexMyers3) May 17, 2023

We know that DJ has been giving late-night golf lessons to his wife. He even helped with her swing before the PGA Championship. That’s dedication. Johnson has also given some tutorials to his young son who already knows what he’s doing. This entire family is a golf powerhouse.

Our one quibble is that it does look like Gretzky is hitting into the group right in front of her. There are seemingly two carts resting not far from where she’s aiming her drive. With the power behind that swing, we might be witnessing a concussion in the making. Hopefully, everyone’s all right. We definitely know Paulina’s doing just fine.

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Dustin Johnson bogeyed his final hole on Day 1 of the 2023 US Open. It was still enough to tie Tiger Woods for an impressive major championship record.

Even with the lone blemish on his scorecard, Johnson’s opening 64 at Los Angeles Country Club was his 10th career score of 65 or better in a major championship. That matches the all-time mark set by Tiger Woods, according to Elias Sports Bureau.

“I drove it really well and controlled the distance with the irons really good,” the two-time major champ said after. “Other than the last hole was about the only — didn’t really hit a bad shot, just pulled it a little bit and it went a lot further than I thought.”

Johnson wasn’t asked about tying the record, but we’re guessing he was unaware of it. Regardless, it’s always nice to be mentioned in the same sentence as Tiger Woods.

Jack Nicklaus is third on the list with nine scores of 65 or better and Rory McIlroy, following his opening 65, is fourth with eight such scores.

Of course, both DJ and Rory care a lot more about winning another major this week. And judging by a record day of scoring in an opening round that featured a pair of 62s by Rickie Fowler and Xander Schauffele, they might just need to add to their lofty totals in this stat to hoist the trophy on Sunday.

“No, I just try to shoot as low as I can every day,” Johnson said when asked if he has a number in mind for the rest of the tournament. “What that number is at the end of the week, I have no idea. I wish I could predict that, though. That would be nice.”

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Crazy as it sounds, the two-time major winner doesn’t have a golf simulator in his house. Granted, he lives in Jupiter, Florida, where he can work on his game outdoors year-round — whenever, that is, he isn’t on his boat.

This week, he is staying at a home near Oak Hill Country Club, where the 105th PGA Championship begins Thursday, and this home obviously is pretty sweet because among its amenities is a simulator. On Tuesday night, Johnson’s wife Paulina posted a video to her Instagram account receiving a lesson from her hubby while on the simulator. They were working on ball position and getting Paulina to stop casting the club from the top.

Dustin Johnson tuning up for the PGA Championship by giving Paulina Gretzky a late-night golf lesson. pic.twitter.com/BeOjMc3YXH

— Alex Myers (@AlexMyers3) May 17, 2023

“I’m kind of thinking that we need to get one, because she really likes hitting off it,” Johnson said, drawing incredulous looks from those within earshot.

Wait, how do you not have one?

“I don’t know. Just never got one,” he said. “But now that I know how much she likes it, I’m definitely going to put one in. Something we can do together, so I’m enjoying it as well. I don’t know how much it is, but I can probably handle it.”

Um, yeah, he probably can. Johnson, 38, is coming off a playoff victory in last week’s LIV Golf League event in Tulsa, Oklahoma, where he won $4 million. His return to form after an early season back injury has stirred talk of the former World No. 1 contending this week on Oak Hill’s rugged East Course. A victory would put him within one leg of the career grand slam, having already claimed the 2016 US Open and 2020 Masters.

It also would further fuel a bid to be included on the US Ryder Cup team. LIV golfers might be suspended from PGA Tour events, but they remain members of the PGA of America and are eligible for inclusion. Given that Johnson went 5-0 in America’s rout of Europe two years ago at Whistling Straits, he’d have to be on captain Zach Johnson’s radar.

Winner of 24 PGA Tour titles, Johnson has missed the cut in his last two PGA starts after consecutive second-place finishes in 2019 and 2020. He was eighth at Oak Hill in 2013.

Coming off a victory has him feeling confident about his chances. Rightly so.

“Yeah, absolutely. Still playing against unbelievably good golfers,” Johnson said. “To be honest, the scores the last few tournaments we played were a lot lower than I thought they would be. You’ve got to play well every single day if you want a chance to win.

“The game last week, [I did] a lot of really good things,” he added. “Played really solid all three days, and doing everything well. I’m driving it well, controlling the distance with the irons, starting to wedge it a lot better, and then rolled in a few putts. It’s definitely nice coming off a win, coming into this championship, and especially this golf course.”

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Unfortunately, we don’t have much detail other than that because the quick video shared on Paulina’s Instagram story doesn’t have any volume, but we still learned a couple things:

1.) Paulina apparently plays golf left-handed now. (And practises in socks.)

2.) DJ’s Rochester rental home is pretty sick.

Anyway, here’s a look:

Dustin Johnson tuning up for the PGA Championship by giving Paulina Gretzky a late-night golf lesson. pic.twitter.com/BeOjMc3YXH

— Alex Myers (@AlexMyers3) May 17, 2023

Again, not much to see there as DJ makes sure the simulator sensor is on before stepping away. And then the video stops before Paulina makes a swing. Maybe her new(er) lefty move isn’t quite Instagram-ready quite yet.

DJ naysayers will claim this shows his head isn’t in the right place this week, but we argue otherwise. For one, the two-time major champ is coming off another LIV Golf win so he’s feeling pretty good about his own swing. And for another, he rented a house with a simulator! So for all those backing him, do with this info what you will.

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After celebrating on stage, posing for photos and meeting with the media following his victory on Sunday evening at LIV Golf Tulsa, Dustin Johnson was anxious to jump on a plane as quick as possible and fly to upstate New York for this week’s PGA Championship.

When showing the kind of form that can win majors, it certainly behooved the 4 Aces captain to get familiar with the Oak Hill East Course as soon as possible — especially since Johnson has not seen it since 2013 when it last hosted the PGA. He tied for eighth that week, posting the second-lowest score in the field for the final two rounds. Since then, the course has undergone significant renovations.

Teammate Patrick Reed had already made a reconnaissance trip to Oak Hill the previous weekend, reporting back that the “rough is really deep.” Johnson was curious to see it for himself.

Yet, he wasn’t about to leave the Oklahoma faithful hanging. Despite a two-hour weather delay in the middle of Sunday’s final round that closed the course and forced all those on site to shelter from the lightning storm, an impressive number of fans stayed at Cedar Ridge and were ultimately rewarded with a thrilling finish, with Johnson beating Ripper captain Cameron Smith and Stinger’s Branden Grace with a birdie putt from the fringe on the first playoff hole.

Now, several fans were waiting for his autograph — and DJ obliged, even with his scheduled take-off looming. “Really pleased with the turnout and the vibe out here this week,” he said. The numbers backed him up, as LIV Golf Tulsa produced the largest attendance for any LIV Golf event held thus far in the United States.

The vibe is also good for Johnson this week as he chases the third leg of a career grand slam, having already won the US Open (2016) and Masters (2020). He not only heads to Oak Hill with plenty of momentum but also plenty of confidence from the victory – his first of the season, second in his LIV Golf career and 30th of his professional career.

He had started the year in less-than-ideal form due to a minor back problem that forced him to withdraw before his first scheduled start at the Saudi International. In the LIV Golf League season opener at Mayakoba, he was a non-factor, tying for 35th, his worst finish in any LIV event. Even more shocking for last year’s Individual Champion was his final-round 7-over 78, the second-worst score of the day at El Camaleon.

He followed by opening with a 1-over 72 at LIV Golf Tucson. Since then, though, he’s settled into a more productive rhythm and has produced 14 consecutive rounds under par, setting a new LIV record.

Still, until Tulsa, he struggled to contend. His positions through 36 holes: 27th in Tucson, 14th in Orlando, 13th in Adelaide and 14th in Singapore. His best points result through the first five events was a seventh in Orlando, and he ranked 20th in the season-long points race. That was the worst position among the 4 Aces. Yet he didn’t get discouraged.

“I started to see a lot of good things starting in Australia,” he said. “I played much better than my scores in Australia and Singapore. Just every time I made a mistake, it was really costly, or I was just missing momentum putts, the 5-6 footers for par that keep your round going. Just wasn’t scoring well. But I knew it was coming.”

Tee-to-green hasn’t been the issue, as he entered Tulsa second in the League in driving distance, 18th in fairways hit and tied for sixth in greens in regulation. But he was tied for 36th in putting average. A return to an old putter — the one he used last season — paid big dividends at Cedar Ridge, as he ranked first in the field in putting. It proved to be the difference-maker, as he rolled in mid-range birdie putts on the final hole in regulation to make the playoff, then the winner on the same par-4 18th a few minutes later in the playoff.

“I’ve been hitting good putts; they just weren’t going in,” Johnson said. “I knew things would eventually start to turn around. Just had to keep grinding.”

The Tulsa win confirms his status as one of the favourites this week. Of the 17 LIV Golf League members in the field at Oak Hill, only Smash captain Brooks Koepka has better backing. Plus, Johnson has enjoyed plenty of success in the North-east – three wins in New York, two wins in Massachusetts (including his LIV Golf Boston victory last year), and one win in Connecticut. And he has three top-6 finishes in majors played in New York, including runner-up to Brooks Koepka at the 2019 PGA at Bethpage Black.

Johnson isn’t offering any guarantees, but he certainly likes his chances.

“Obviously, it’s a really good golf course. It’s going to be tough,” Johnson said. “I like tough courses.”

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The 4 Aces captain Dustin Johnson won the individual trophy for the second time in his LIV Golf career with a birdie on the first playoff hole to defeat Branden Grace and Cameron Smith. Grace’s Stinger also won for the second time, by one stroke over the 4 Aces in a victory sealed by Grace’s par putt on the final hole of regulation.

In becoming last year’s season-long Individual Champion, Johnson won a three-man playoff in Boston, making eagle on the first playoff hole. With his win Sunday at Cedar Ridge Country Club, he becomes the third two-time winner in LIV Golf, joining Brooks Koepka and Talor Gooch, and he moves to sixth in the individual points standings after a slow start to his season.

“Next time I’d like to win without going into a playoff,” Johnson said. “Would be a lot less stressful.”

Another one in the ?#LIVGolf pic.twitter.com/PlVcS65Z4W

— LIV Golf (@livgolf_league) May 15, 2023

For the all-South African Stingers, it was a long time between wins, nearly a year since they won the inaugural LIV Golf Invitational tournament in London last June. They wore blue ribbons all week in memory of legendary South African golfer John Bland, who passed away on Tuesday at the age of 77.

“It’s amazing how these things happen,” said captain Louis Oosthuizen. “Blandy was an inspiration to all of us growing up watching him play … It was just nice to sort of know in the back of our minds that he was there with us this week.”

Sunday was a day of low scores, with Smith and RangeGoats’s Harold Varner III tying the LIV record-low score of 61 (9-under) set by Grace in Friday’s first round. Yet when play was suspended two hours into the final round, Johnson and his 4 Aces appeared in control. Johnson was a bogey-free 3-under on his day and led Grace by three strokes, while the 4 Aces led the Stingers, also by three shots.

But then play resumed, and the leaderboards tightened.

At the par-4 10th, the most difficult hole this week, Johnson’s tee shot landed left of the cart path, and his second shot got away from him, finding the water on the left side of the green. After a penalty stroke, his fourth shot found the greenside rough. He found the green on his fifth shot, then two-putted for triple-bogey. That left Grace as the leader, with Johnson a stroke back.

“I wish I could blame it on the rain delay,” Johnson said. “It wasn’t the rain delay’s fault, though. No. 10 was really the only hole where I had a little bit of a hiccup. Everything that could go wrong went wrong on that hole.”

Johnson steadied himself with a birdie on the next hole to tie Grace atop the leaderboard, but now the hopes were raised for several chasers in the pack — primarily Ripper captain Smith, who was reeling off four consecutive birdies at the time. When Smith birdied his final hole for his 61, he had the solo lead at 17-under.

Grace then birdied the 17th to tie Smith at 17 under with one hole to play. Johnson, his playing partner in the final group, was at 16 under. But Johnson then rolled in a clutch birdie putt on the final hole to join the playoff. Meanwhile, Grace sealed the Stinger win with his par putt to finish with a 5-under 65 to go with counting rounds from Dean Burmester (64) and Charl Schwartzel (66).

“I actually hit a great first putt that was straight on line,” said Grace. “Just nice finishing it out and then knowing that the team was successful.”

On the playoff hole, all three players saw their approach shots finish in the same general area below the hole. Grace missed his attempt, then Johnson knocked his in. Smith had the closest look but for one of the few times Sunday could not find the bottom of the cup.

“I thought it was pretty good. Just kind of didn’t come back,” Smith said of his attempt. “I holed a lot of putts today. Can’t really be angry at the greens.”

Grace, who had rallied past Johnson to win last year in Portland, said winning the team title helped make up for coming up short in the playoff. “At the end, it was not bittersweet,” Grace said. “But I know I put in a lot of hard work and it’s paid off, and the team really wanted this one.”

As for Johnson, the victory gives him plenty of momentum going into next week’s PGA Championship, the second major of the season.

“Feel like I’m doing everything really well right now,” Johnson said. “I’m really looking forward to next week.”

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