DJ’s Masters Moment: Dustin Johnson dominates to win his 1st green jacket at Augusta

So, Dustin Johnson can’t win the big ones, huh? He can’t “close” tournaments on golf’s biggest stages?

Yes, he’s heard the critics talk about his falling short with opportunities in major championships. And yes, he felt that he should have won more of the sport’s biggest titles.

Then came Sunday, and he forever consigned those idea to the rubbish bin with his record-setting march to the championship in the 84th Masters at Augusta National Golf Club.

A Columbia native who cut his teeth in South Carolina’s acclaimed junior golf program, Johnson earned his 24th PGA Tour win and second major Sunday, firing a 4-under-par 68. His four-day total of 20-under 268 shattered the tournament standard of 270, set in 1997 by Tiger Woods and equaled by Jordan Spieth in 2015.

So special was the triumph that the normally laid-back, unflappable Johnson was reduced to tears.

Now 36, he dreamed of this Sunday afternoon experience during his into-the-night practice sessions at now-defunct Weed Hill Driving Range in Irmo, in leading Dutch Fork High to state championships and in earning All-America honors at Coastal Carolina University.

Winning “still feels like a dream,” he said. “What a great feeling it is.”

Johnson won the 2016 U.S. Open at Oakmont, but he also experienced multiple close calls in majors, the latter results prompting the critics to question his resolve at the moment of truth.

Doubt no more.

Ranked No. 1 in the world, he came to Augusta for the November Masters, rescheduled due to the coronavirus outbreak, playing the best golf of his life. He went into the third round in a five-way logjam for the lead with two of those challengers, Jon Rahm and Justin Thomas, right behind him in the ratings.

His 7-under-par 65 Saturday afternoon left them all in the dust, and he went into Sunday’s final round with a four-shot advantage. He birdied the third hole, but his failure to birdie the par-5 second hole and bogeys at Nos. 4 and 5 gave the challengers a ray of hope.

Perish the thought.

His tee ball on the par-3 sixth set up a birdie that, he said, “helped the nerves. I played really solid the rest of the way. I drove the ball well, hit a lot of quality iron shots and gave myself good looks (at birdies).”

Cameron Smith, who became the first player in Masters history to record four rounds in the 60s, and Sungjae Im offered brief challenges. Rory McIlroy briefly crept within four shots. But Johnson birdied the par-5 eighth, got through the treacherous 10 to 12 stretch unscathed and put the tournament away with three straight birdies.

After the tee shot on No. 12, “I felt like I could breath a little,” he said.

The triumph Sunday continued Johnson’s torrid streak in the coronavirus-interrupted season. His recent performances include wins in the Northern Trust and Tour Championship; seconds in the PGA Championship, the Houston PGA tournament and the BMW; plus sixth in the U.S. Open. He also spent 10 days in quarantine after testing positive for COVID-19.

“Obviously I played unbelievable golf all week,” Johnson said Sunday. “The conditions of the course (softened by rain early in the week) definitely helped the scoring a little bit, but I still played really well today.”

He won by five strokes, the largest margin of victory in the Masters since Woods’ triumph in 1997.

His career includes squandering a three-shot lead going into the final round of the U.S. Open at Pebble Beach, suffering a penalty in the PGA Championship at Whitstling Straits and three-putting the last hole to fall a stroke short in the U.S. Open at Chambers Bay.

He can replace those memories with one from this special Sunday.

“Winning any tournament, especially a major, is hard,” he said. “I thought (the course) played really difficult (today). The win was tricky. ... But I proved I could get it done in tough conditions.”

Yes, he did.

Masters champion winning purse

$2.07 Million

When is the 2021 Masters?

The next Masters tournament is scheduled for April 8-11.

Recent Masters champions

2010: Phil Mickelson

2011: Charl Schwartzel

2012: Bubba Watson

2013: Adam Scott

2014: Bubba Watson

2015: Jordan Spieth

2016: Danny Willett

2017: Sergio Garcia

2018: Patrick Reed

2019: Tiger Woods

2020: Dustin Johnson

Dustin Johnson’s biggest wins

1. 2020 Masters

2. 2016 U.S. Open

3. 2020 Tour Championship

4. 2017 WGC-Mexico Championship

5. 2020 Northern Trust

Scoring records at majors

Scoring records of the four major championships with player, year and score in relation to par:

Masters: Dustin Johnson, 2020, 20 under (268)

U.S. Open: Rory McIlroy, 2011, 16 under (268).

British Open: Tiger Woods, 2000, 19 under (269).

PGA Championship: Jason Day, 2015, 20 under (268).

This story was originally published November 15, 2020 at 2:52 PM.