World No. 1 Johnson claims second major
Some eighteen months ago I was listening to Billie Jean King on Desert Island Discs. It is always interesting to hear the insights of successful sports folk and none more so than Ms King who, aside from a highly successful career in tennis, has an interesting backstory (If you ever get the chance watch the enjoyable film Battle Of the Sexes https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_the_Sexes_%282017_film%29 which tells the tale of her famous tennis challenge with Bobby Riggs). That aside it was her response to one particular question that stayed with me. When asked “To what do you credit your sporting success?” the winner of a mere 39 grand slam titles replied “Never underestimate your opponent”.
I was reminded of this in the run up to this year’s US Masters, being played for the first time in November on account of a global pandemic. Two months ago, at the US Open, a chap named Bryson DeChambeau had turned the world of golf on its head by beefing up and developing a new technique called Bomb and Gouge. In the manner of Hitler’s Blitzkrieg rolling through the Low Countries so did Bryson tame Winged Foot. So dominant was his performance, and so brutal that the rest could only look on in awe believing that he had re-invented the game, in a fashion that that nobody else could match. World supremacy beckoned.
Confidence is a pre-requisite of sporting success but it’s how you bear it that matters. Unlike Billie Jean King, Bryson likes to tell you how good he is. More surprisingly, for someone who takes a scientific approach to the game, he has a propensity to engage his mouth before his brain. Riding on the wave as pre-tournament favourite he put a rather large foot in his mouth by claiming “Augusta National is a par 67 course”. Oh dear …. or as Greg Norman would state “The kiss of death”. Few were therefore sorry when DeChambeau struggled over the opening two rounds, scraping into the weekend on level par. He would finish the tournament at -2, 18 shots over his perceived par.
Interesting then that the chap who won, Dustin Johnson, should attain Bryson’s par. His aggregate score of 268 (-20) was the lowest four round total since the tournament’s inception in 1934. Great as this achievement was, he entered the final day’s play with a huge question mark hanging above his head. Yes, he is the current number one golfer in the world, with a major and 23 tour victories to his name, and yes his form had been commanding over the previous six weeks. But for all these achievements Johnson has often proved a flaky final round performer and none more so than in the majors. On four previous occasions he had taken 54 hole leads into the final round, only to succumb to the pressure. Most notable amongst these had been the 82 he shot in the 2010 US Open at Pebble Beach where he ended tied for 8th. Could he banish that and other blips to claim golf’s most iconic prize?
But as he set off on his final round, with shadows already lengthening, the portents over the opening five holes were not promising. Par at the first was followed by a sketchy par at the par five second (a hole he had eagled the previous day) followed by a birdie then a bogey and another bogey. As he walked to the sixth tee the chasing pack had moved to within one shot of his lead and whilst his languid demeanour projected calm, he was probably anything but. The sixth is a fiendishly difficult par three, the pin placed on an upturned saucer at the back right of the green. Johnson’s iron was imperious landing within six feet of the flag from where he would hole his putt for a nerve settling birdy. Commentating from his home in Las Vegas, one-time Johnson coach Butch Harmon regarded that moment to be the turning point. And so it proved as the man with the gunslinger’s gait played faultless golf taking 68 blows to match the lowest round of the day and a thoroughly deserved first green jacket.
He will need to savour the win, for in barely six months he’ll be defending it again, perhaps this time in front of an audience. Some have claimed that without the lauded “patrons” the tournament lacked atmosphere and perhaps drama. That may be so but as Johnson wandered up an 18th fairway, shawn of its stands, to a green surrounded by a gaggle of friends, players and officials it gave an impression of how the professional game must have been first played back in the last century, when Old Tom Morris was dominating affairs. And in some ways it was rather more agreeable for that.
….. and finally. Tiger Woods having a meltdown at Golden Bell, Augusta’s infamous par three 12th, was something few would ever think possible. But yesterday possible became reality as, somewhat remarkably, he managed to rack up a 10. Three under par when he stood on the tee, as Woods left the green ten minutes later, he was four over. Many would have given up, but not Eldrick Ton Woods. No matter that as defending champion he could not reclaim his crown. He would finish with head held high and thus began an incredible run as he birdied four of the remaining five holes to finish at level par for the tournament. And if that feat were not remarkable enough it was as nothing to what followed. So often surly when faced with the chore of the post round interview for once he demonstrated a humanity not previously seen. My antipathy is melting.
©Mark Brennand