Dustin Johnson No. 1 in the world but somehow a PGA Championship afterthought

Dustin Johnson’s achievements in golf require no embroidery. He is destined for membership in multiple halls of fame and could — note the qualifier “could” — end his career ranked among the handful of the game’s greatest players.

Against that backdrop, this son of South Carolina — Columbia native, high school star at Dutch Fork and All-American at Coastal Carolina — enters the 103rd PGA Championship that begins Thursday almost forgotten.

He’s the Rodney Dangerfield at the Ocean Course. He’s getting no respect.

Oh, the gamblers pay him lip service, ranking him among the top tier of championship candidates. But the pre-tournament chatter makes those odds sound rather insincere.

“DJ continues to slide,” one internet headline reported Wednesday after one site dropped his odds of winning to 20-to-1.

Most speculation centers on the venue — the fierce Ocean Course hardened by the Atlantic Ocean — and the winds that make the challenge so daunting. Players getting attention range from Rory McIlroy to Bryson DeChambeau to Jordan Spieth and a sprinkling of others.

Has the world’s top-ranked player ever been so overlooked? How could the player who has spent more weeks at No. 1 more than anyone not named Tiger Woods or Greg Norman be so forgotten?

Maybe DJ is a victim of the what-have-you-done-lately syndrome, and that could be a mistake.

With only one top-10 PGA Tour finish and a missed cut in the Masters in this calendar year, Johnson’s game has not been sharp since his phenomenal 2020 streak culminated with his record-setting triumph in the November Masters.

But remember what his performance chart looked like before the start of that streak: an 80-80-missed cut at the Memorial and a 78-withdrew from the 3M Open.

He arrives at Kiawah with a tie for 13th at the RBC Heritage and a tie for 48th at the Valspar since the 2021 Masters. He withdrew from last week’s Byron Nelson, citing knee discomfort, and said the pain had been “off and on” for about six months.

The knee “just didn’t feel right,” he said Wednesday in discussing the Byron Nelson withdrawal. “I just wanted to spend more time on making sure I was feeling 100 percent for this week. ...

“I got an MRI. Everything is fine. ... It feels good.”

And “feeling good” is a requisite for success at the Ocean Course.

“It’s tough with no wind, just the conditions,” he said. “The greens are firm; they’re all raised. It’s long and (you’re) hitting long clubs in. When the wind is blowing like it has been the last few days, even the downwind holes are tough because it’s hard to stop the ball.

“It requires you to do everything well. You’ve got to drive it good; driving is definitely a big part of it. You’ve got to hit fairways. They are fairly generous, but with the winds the way they are — a lot of cross-winds and into-the-wind holes — and the way the holes are angled, you’ve got to hit good drives. And it doesn’t get a whole lot easier from there.”

Johnson said he had played practice rounds from the Ocean Course’s back tees, listed at more than 7,800 yards, and had hit every club in his bag. He chose his 7-wood over a 3-iron on the into-the-wind par-3s, Nos. 14 and 17, because, he said, “the 7-wood comes in a little softer.”

He has been working on “a mix of everything” in the days leading to the major in which he has finished second the past two years. Indeed, the absence of a PGA title might be the biggest hole in his resume that includes two major titles among his 24 PGA Tour wins.

“I feel like (his game) has been close the past few months,” Johnson said. “I just haven’t put it all together. But everything feels good right now. I’ve got a lot of confidence coming into this week.”

His key?

“The putter,” he said. “I feel like if I putt well, I play well all the time.”

So ... he’s feeling good, he’s confident and, judging from pre-tournament chatter, he’s overlooked.

Bottom line?

“I like tough golf courses,” he said, “and I like this course.”

Only the bold dismiss his chances.

Watch the 2021 PGA championship

▪ Where: The Ocean Course at Kiawah Island Golf Resort at Kiawah Island, South Carolina

▪ TV: 1-7 pm Thursday-Friday (ESPN), then 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. (ESPN) and 1-7 pm Saturday-Sunday (CBS)

▪ Streaming: ESPN.com, CBSSports.com and the ESPN app