How Dustin Johnson’s brother, Austin, shared in emotions of historic Masters win

November’s five-shot Masters win for Dustin Johnson carried with it the usual dominance the world has become so accustomed to seeing in his 24-win PGA Tour career. But what it also showed us was an emotional side to the golf superstar and his younger brother and caddie Austin Johnson.

Dustin’s win with Austin on the bag marks the first time, Augusta National confirmed, that a brother-brother combination has won the storied event. In 2018, Patrick Reed won the Masters with brother-in-law Kessler Karain on the bag and in 1986 Jack Nicklaus won with his son Jackie as caddie.

For Austin Johnson, the nerves were very real at this year’s patron-less Masters, even with Dustin starting Sunday with a four-shot lead.

“I still felt the nerves,” Austin Johnson said. “With or without the fans, it’s the Masters, it’s a major, it’s Sunday at Augusta. It was nerve-wracking for me over every shot. Reading the putts, I could definitely feel it. You feel all of the emotions.”

The 33-year-old Austin Johnson called it an emotional roller coaster.

As Dustin played the 72nd hole to finish off his first Masters title, Austin wiped tears away four different times, nearly sobbing when they stood on the green that final Sunday.

“I think everyone saw that on 18, and I was just kind of relieved it was over and that emotional wave just kind of hit me, tears came down rolling out,” Johnson said. “It was a dream come true.”

The Masters dreams belonged to both Johnson brothers, and that played into the emotional ending.

“I always wanted to win the green jacket, but I gave up hope on that a long time ago,” Austin Johnson said. “To see my brother walk up 18 to win the green jacket, it was emotional. You know, I still get a little bit choked up just talking about it.”

When asked about the other factors that contributed to such an emotional moment for him, Austin remembered his local roots.

“I was thinking about how proud I was of (Dustin), growing up in Columbia, just an hour down the road. We just wanted to go to the Masters, get in and see the course, touch the grass or whatever. Just see it,” Johnson said. “It was like almost a dream when we were kids and now we’re walking down the fairways together leading the Masters on Sunday. You can’t make it up, you know?”

A good 30 minutes or so after Dustin, Austin and Dustin’s wife, Paulina, walked off 18, Dustin stood on the practice putting green and couldn’t hold his emotions together.

Tears came out in a way no one has seen as he was interviewed by CBS Sports’ Amanda Balionis.

So how did Austin react to seeing his brother tear up?

“I know how much he cares. I think it hit everyone else and let them see how much he cares,” Austin said. “When everything finally hit him and he collected himself on 18 and he got to show his emotions and how much he cares and what everything means to him; I’ve seen that side of him but I think it let everybody else see that side of him.”

As the younger brother and caddie, Austin said he’d seen this emotional side of Dustin Johnson in a few situations in recent years.

“He didn’t show it on camera or anything but at Oakmont (his first major win, the 2016 U.S. Open) he was pretty emotional,” Johnson said.

Dustin Johnson, perhaps more than any other player in today’s game, has dealt with more than his share of gut-wrenching losses in majors, including his final hole three-putt at the 2015 U.S. Open to lose by one to Jordan Spieth, just one year before winning the Open.

Beyond the course, there are a few other times Austin has seen his brother emotional like he was at Augusta.

“The birth of Tatum and River (Dustin’s sons), he and Paulina had very emotional moments for them, stuff like that. (But it’s) not very often,” Johnson said. “And I’m the same way. Growing up, you didn’t cry. That’s not something you did. But some things you just can’t hold back.”

But who can blame the guy for being overcome with emotion, after grabbing a green jacket just an hour down Interstate 20 from where he grew up?

It’s important to note that during the final round, a pivotal moment for team Johnson came within the first five holes after Austin says he “under-read” a couple putts leading to bogeys on four and five. “(Dustin) actually gave me a little pep talk, saying, ‘Hey, I’m gonna keep calling you in, so keep reading them,’” Austin said.

Dustin didn’t get flustered in the moment and reassured his brother that he was going to trust him on what they always do in their green-reading process.

They birdied the next hole and were off and running.

Now it’s all systems are go for team Johnson as they rest up and prepare for their next start in January’s Sentry Tournament of Champions, an event Dustin Johnson has won twice.

Many in the golf world see his best form as being better than anyone else, so one would wonder what a big win like the Masters would do for Dustin Johnson’s psyche when he goes for major No. 3 at Augusta in April, and at future major championships. Austin sees a lot of significant to this Masters win.

“I think this one was big because it was the first time that he had the lead and converted it in a major,” Austin said. Johnson had lost all four majors before the 2020 Masters when he held the lead. “I think that was big just for the psyche, and I think that kind of frees him up a little bit the next time we’re in this situation or in contention or anything like that.

“You know that you’ve been there and you’ve done it and you’ve got that monkey off your back.”