Dustin Johnson returns to Oakmont, site of 2016 U.S. Open triumph, as game rounds into form
Dustin Johnson returns to Oakmont, site of 2016 U.S. Open triumph, as game rounds into form
A lot has changed for Dustin Johnson since the last time he was at Oakmont Country Club nine years ago.
He captured his second major title, winning the November Masters in 2020. He was one of the first players to leave the PGA Tour for LIV Golf in 2022, where he remains with one win in each of his first three seasons, though he hasn't collected a worldwide win since February 2024.
This week, the 40-year-old is back in Western Pennsylvania looking to rekindle the DJ of old's flame at the 2025 U.S. Open. He has missed the cut in five of his past seven majors and sits 27th in the LIV Golf season standings after eight events with three top-10 finishes on the year, including last week at Robert Trent Jones Golf Club. But he remains far from his form in 2016, when he entered the final round at Oakmont trailing by four but won by three, claiming his first major championship title a year removed from a disappointing finish at Chambers Bay, when he had an eagle putt from 12 feet to win on the 72nd hole and walked off the green with a par to miss a playoff by one shot.
"The course is just as hard as I remember, if not harder. Yeah, I like coming back here. I love the golf course," Johnson said Monday at his pre-tournament news conference.
"First time I played it, probably two weeks prior to the 2016 Open, so obviously a lot of good memories from that year. Coming back, I was back here one other time when I got my honorary membership here, for that ceremony, which was really nice. Proud member of Oakmont. I'm probably their favorite member because I never come."
Johnson calls Oakmont the toughest course he has ever played, and he couldn't name a second off the top of his head.
Even with softer conditions expected this week thanks to upwards of 13 inches of rain in the past 10 weeks, and more expected early on and possibly on the weekend, it could make the golf course a bit easier to hold the fairways and greens, but it could lead to it playing longer, too.
That's how conditions were when Johnson won in 2016.
"The conditions right now are similar," he said. "Hopefully it will be dry, we won't get any more rain, and it will dry out a little bit by Thursday."
Johnson said his game has been trending in the right direction, even if the results don't show it. He's currently in the midst of one of his longest winless streaks (16 months) of his lengthy pro career.
"Golf is a strange sport. I don't feel like I've slipped any. My scores haven't reflected, but it is a really fine line," Johnson said. "I remember a few years ago, I missed two cuts in a row. I think I shot 80-80, and then I won the next week.
"For me it's always really close to being good, but just getting back there and keeping it consistent which over the last couple months I'm starting to see a lot of patterns and the game feels like it's coming back into good form."
Before he won at Oakmont in 2016, Johnson went 15 months between victories.
A lot has changed in nine years, but the competitive fire remains inside DJ, and he's hoping some good vibes at Oakmont can be the spark to another special week.
"I have confidence in this golf course because I know I played well, but obviously this week puts a lot of pressure on the driver. I feel like I'm driving the ball really good right now," he said. "Even from there, though, it doesn't get much easier. You definitely have to hit it in the fairway if you want a chance to win around here.
"I'm looking forward to playing in it this week and hopefully can contend."
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Yahoo
19 minutes ago
- Yahoo
Texans C.J. Gardner-Johnson Doesn't Hold Back on Eagles Trade Ahead of Minicamp
Texans C.J. Gardner-Johnson Doesn't Hold Back on Eagles Trade Ahead of Minicamp originally appeared on Athlon Sports. Over offseason after their Super Bowl LIX win, the Philadelphia Eagles shocked the NFL world with the trade of a key safety that helped hold off the Kansas City Chiefs. Advertisement The Eagles traded C.J. Gardner-Johnson to the Houston Texans in exchange for former first-round pick Kenyon Green and a 2026 fifth-round selection, even after Gardner-Johnson posted six interceptions last season. Months after the trade, Gardner-Johnson has talked about the trade and even took to social media recently to seemingly respond to comments made by defensive coordinator Vic Fangio. At a workout and interview with Aaron Wilson of KPRC 2, Gardner-Johnson talked about being "disrespected" by the offseason buzz. "I feel highly disrespected, but it's a business,' Gardner-Johnson said. 'Never was an All-Pro or Pro Bowl! Never! Led the league in interceptions. What more do you want? Advertisement 'People say, 'He's a hazard, he's this, he's that.' I never been no hazard, bro. They got no real issues on me. That black ball ain't going to work on me, because I got me a ring. I got me one. I got three more championships in me. I'm probably going to win the next three. I'm going to get me another Super Bowl this year. Just watch.' Gardner-Johnson, 27, has set his sights on Super Bowl LX with the Texans. Houston is a franchise with a talented roster, especially its stacked defense, but they've never reached the AFC title game before with six losses in the divisional round of the playoffs. Philadelphia Eagles safety C.J. Gardner-Johnson before Super Bowl Streicher-Imagn Images Regardless, Gardner-Johnson is eager to join head coach DeMeco Ryans' squad and make an immediate impact. Advertisement "I can't speak for everybody, but I know that we're gonna get in there and be at the top at the end of the year and have a chance to compete for a championship," Gardner-Johnson said. 'I think that's why I'm here. I'm proud to be a Texan. I want to make coach Ryans proud. Coming together and trying to win one together, it would be kind of amazing.' Related: C.J. Stroud Puts Injury Concerns to Rest This story was originally reported by Athlon Sports on Jun 10, 2025, where it first appeared.
Hamilton Spectator
20 minutes ago
- Hamilton Spectator
Jon Rahm: Smaller fields make top 10s easier at LIV Golf
OAKMONT, Pa. (AP) — Two-time major champion Jon Rahm comes into the U.S. Open off another top 10 at LIV Golf, which is nothing new. The Spaniard has never come in lower in the 20 events he has finished since joining the Saudi-backed league at the start of last year. Is that a big deal? 'I would happily trade a bunch of them for more wins, that's for sure,' said Rahm, who has two LIV victories but has yet to win this year. 'But I keep putting myself in good position.' One of the criticism of LIV is the 54-man fields over 54 holes, especially with a half-dozen or more considered past their prime and several unproven young players. Rahm delivered some context on his streak. 'Listen, I'm a realist in this case,' he said. 'I've been playing really good golf, yes, but I'd be lying if I said that it wasn't easier to have top 10s with a smaller field. That's just the truth, right? Had I been playing full-field events, would I have top 10 every single week? No. But I've been playing good enough to say that I would most likely have been inside the top 30 every single time and maybe even top 25.' He considered that impressive, and he figures most of those would be top 10s. Rahm tied for eighth last week in Virginia without ever having a serious chance of winning over the final few holes. He said against a full field, he doubts that would have been a top 10. 'I think winning is equally as hard, but you can take advantage of a smaller field to finish higher,' he said. 'As much as I want to give it credit personally for having that many top 10s, I wouldn't always give it as the full amount just knowing that it's a smaller field.' DeChambeau and LIV Bryson DeChambeau says the contract he signed to join Saudi-funded LIV Golf is up next year and he's already looking ahead to a new one. 'We're looking to negotiate end of this year, and I'm very excited. They see the value in me. I see the value in what they can provide, and I believe we'll come to some sort of resolution on that,' DeChambeau said Tuesday. 'Super excited for the future.' LIV contracts are confidential and there has been ample speculation whether the Public Investment Fund will shell out the kind of signing bonuses that helped lure players away from the PGA Tour in 2022. Meanwhile, unification with the PGA Tour and LIV Golf appears at a standstill as PIF officials want any future to include team golf. 'I think that LIV is not going anywhere,' DeChambeau said. He said Yasir Al-Rumayyan, the PIF governor behind the rival league, 'has been steadfast in his belief on team golf, and whether everybody believes in it or not, I think it's a viable option.' DeChambeau believes LIV is going in the right direction and referenced the indoor tech-infused TGL as having teams making money. 'I believe there is a sustainable model out there,' he said. 'How it all works with the game of golf, who knows? But I know my worth.' Xander and YouTube Xander Schauffele might spend less time on his phone than anyone, usually only scrolling through the news. A few weeks ago at the Memorial, during a rapid-fire series of random questions, he was asked who he would take with him on 'The Amazing Race' reality show. 'What's 'The Amazing Race,'' he asked. So when he was told about Tommy Fleetwood's latest venture with YouTube and asked if he would considering doing something like that, Schauffele replied, 'Is that like a serious question?' But he has spent time on YouTube for a reason. Schauffele made his U.S. Open debut in 2017, the year after the Open at Oakmont. What better way to check out the course than watching a U.S. Open at Oakmont? 'I watched some of the '16 coverage on YouTube. I would have watched it on any platform that would have been provided, but I watched some of that coverage there just to see sort of how guys were hitting shots and how the ball was reacting,' Schauffele said. Turns out that wasn't his first experience on YouTube. 'I've been in dark places where I've looked up swing tip things on YouTube as well, trying to make sense of it, just like every golfer has. I'll confess to it,' he said. 'I'm luckily not there anymore, which is probably healthy for myself and my family. 'Yeah, there's a lot on there, I can tell you that much.' Rory and his driver Rory McIlroy expressed concern about his driver after badly missing the cut in the Canadian Open, his last tournament ahead of the U.S. Open. He said he worked at home over the weekend and realized he was using the wrong driver. And he was coy about which one he was using, suggesting that people could always go to the range to find out for themselves. McIlroy got plenty of attention with his driver when it was leaked at the PGA Championship that his driver did not pass inspection. It's a common occurrence, and testing takes place randomly at every major. Scottie Scheffler also had to change drivers after his didn't pass the test. He wound up winning by five shots. So was that a problem for McIlroy at the PGA Championship? 'It wasn't a big deal for Scottie,' McIlroy said. 'So it shouldn't have been a big deal for me.' The best honorary member Dustin Johnson had not played Oakmont since the won the U.S. Open in 2016. That's not to say he hasn't been back to the fabled club. Oakmont Country Club honors its major champions by offering them honorary membership. Johnson went back a few years later for the honor, going to a dinner and getting his green jacket (he got the more famous green jacket a few years later at the Masters). Honorary membership has its privileges that Johnson doesn't use. 'I'm probably their favorite member because I never come,' he said. Oakmont need not to be offended. Johnson was asked how many clubs he had honorary membership and he didn't bother counting. 'Quite a few,' he said. 'And I don't use very many, either.' ___ AP golf:
Yahoo
38 minutes ago
- Yahoo
Jon Rahm: Smaller fields make top 10s easier at LIV Golf
Rory McIlroy, of Northern Ireland, right, laughs with Shane Lowry, of Ireland, as they walk on the 18th green during a practice round ahead of the U.S. Open golf tournament at Oakmont Country Club Tuesday, June 10, 2025, in Oakmont, Pa. (AP Photo/Seth Wenig) Xander Schauffele hits from a bunker on the 14th hole during a practice round ahead of the U.S. Open golf tournament at Oakmont Country Club Tuesday, June 10, 2025, in Oakmont, Pa. (AP Photo/Seth Wenig) Dustin Johnson tees off on the 13th hole during a practice round ahead of the U.S. Open golf tournament at Oakmont Country Club Tuesday, June 10, 2025, in Oakmont, Pa. (AP Photo/Charlie Riedel) Jon Rahm, of Spain, pauses for a drink on the 12th hole during a practice round ahead of the U.S. Open golf tournament at Oakmont Country Club Tuesday, June 10, 2025, in Oakmont, Pa. (AP Photo/Charlie Riedel) Jon Rahm, of Spain, tees off on the 13th hole during a practice round ahead of the U.S. Open golf tournament at Oakmont Country Club Tuesday, June 10, 2025, in Oakmont, Pa. (AP Photo/Charlie Riedel) Jon Rahm, of Spain, tees off on the 13th hole during a practice round ahead of the U.S. Open golf tournament at Oakmont Country Club Tuesday, June 10, 2025, in Oakmont, Pa. (AP Photo/Charlie Riedel) Rory McIlroy, of Northern Ireland, right, laughs with Shane Lowry, of Ireland, as they walk on the 18th green during a practice round ahead of the U.S. Open golf tournament at Oakmont Country Club Tuesday, June 10, 2025, in Oakmont, Pa. (AP Photo/Seth Wenig) Xander Schauffele hits from a bunker on the 14th hole during a practice round ahead of the U.S. Open golf tournament at Oakmont Country Club Tuesday, June 10, 2025, in Oakmont, Pa. (AP Photo/Seth Wenig) Dustin Johnson tees off on the 13th hole during a practice round ahead of the U.S. Open golf tournament at Oakmont Country Club Tuesday, June 10, 2025, in Oakmont, Pa. (AP Photo/Charlie Riedel) Jon Rahm, of Spain, pauses for a drink on the 12th hole during a practice round ahead of the U.S. Open golf tournament at Oakmont Country Club Tuesday, June 10, 2025, in Oakmont, Pa. (AP Photo/Charlie Riedel) Jon Rahm, of Spain, tees off on the 13th hole during a practice round ahead of the U.S. Open golf tournament at Oakmont Country Club Tuesday, June 10, 2025, in Oakmont, Pa. (AP Photo/Charlie Riedel) OAKMONT, Pa. (AP) — Two-time major champion Jon Rahm comes into the U.S. Open off another top 10 at LIV Golf, which is nothing new. The Spaniard has never come in lower in the 20 events he has finished since joining the Saudi-backed league at the start of last year. Is that a big deal? Advertisement 'I would happily trade a bunch of them for more wins, that's for sure,' said Rahm, who has two LIV victories but has yet to win this year. 'But I keep putting myself in good position.' One of the criticism of LIV is the 54-man fields over 54 holes, especially with a half-dozen or more considered past their prime and several unproven young players. Rahm delivered some context on his streak. 'Listen, I'm a realist in this case,' he said. 'I've been playing really good golf, yes, but I'd be lying if I said that it wasn't easier to have top 10s with a smaller field. That's just the truth, right? Had I been playing full-field events, would I have top 10 every single week? No. But I've been playing good enough to say that I would most likely have been inside the top 30 every single time and maybe even top 25.' Advertisement He considered that impressive, and he figures most of those would be top 10s. Rahm tied for eighth last week in Virginia without ever having a serious chance of winning over the final few holes. He said against a full field, he doubts that would have been a top 10. 'I think winning is equally as hard, but you can take advantage of a smaller field to finish higher,' he said. 'As much as I want to give it credit personally for having that many top 10s, I wouldn't always give it as the full amount just knowing that it's a smaller field.' DeChambeau and LIV Bryson DeChambeau says the contract he signed to join Saudi-funded LIV Golf is up next year and he's already looking ahead to a new one. Advertisement 'We're looking to negotiate end of this year, and I'm very excited. They see the value in me. I see the value in what they can provide, and I believe we'll come to some sort of resolution on that,' DeChambeau said Tuesday. 'Super excited for the future.' LIV contracts are confidential and there has been ample speculation whether the Public Investment Fund will shell out the kind of signing bonuses that helped lure players away from the PGA Tour in 2022. Meanwhile, unification with the PGA Tour and LIV Golf appears at a standstill as PIF officials want any future to include team golf. 'I think that LIV is not going anywhere,' DeChambeau said. Advertisement He said Yasir Al-Rumayyan, the PIF governor behind the rival league, 'has been steadfast in his belief on team golf, and whether everybody believes in it or not, I think it's a viable option.' DeChambeau believes LIV is going in the right direction and referenced the indoor tech-infused TGL as having teams making money. 'I believe there is a sustainable model out there,' he said. 'How it all works with the game of golf, who knows? But I know my worth.' Xander and YouTube Xander Schauffele might spend less time on his phone than anyone, usually only scrolling through the news. A few weeks ago at the Memorial, during a rapid-fire series of random questions, he was asked who he would take with him on 'The Amazing Race' reality show. Advertisement 'What's 'The Amazing Race,'' he asked. So when he was told about Tommy Fleetwood's latest venture with YouTube and asked if he would considering doing something like that, Schauffele replied, 'Is that like a serious question?' But he has spent time on YouTube for a reason. Schauffele made his U.S. Open debut in 2017, the year after the Open at Oakmont. What better way to check out the course than watching a U.S. Open at Oakmont? 'I watched some of the '16 coverage on YouTube. I would have watched it on any platform that would have been provided, but I watched some of that coverage there just to see sort of how guys were hitting shots and how the ball was reacting,' Schauffele said. Advertisement Turns out that wasn't his first experience on YouTube. 'I've been in dark places where I've looked up swing tip things on YouTube as well, trying to make sense of it, just like every golfer has. I'll confess to it,' he said. "I'm luckily not there anymore, which is probably healthy for myself and my family. 'Yeah, there's a lot on there, I can tell you that much.' Rory and his driver Rory McIlroy expressed concern about his driver after badly missing the cut in the Canadian Open, his last tournament ahead of the U.S. Open. He said he worked at home over the weekend and realized he was using the wrong driver. And he was coy about which one he was using, suggesting that people could always go to the range to find out for themselves. Advertisement McIlroy got plenty of attention with his driver when it was leaked at the PGA Championship that his driver did not pass inspection. It's a common occurrence, and testing takes place randomly at every major. Scottie Scheffler also had to change drivers after his didn't pass the test. He wound up winning by five shots. So was that a problem for McIlroy at the PGA Championship? 'It wasn't a big deal for Scottie,' McIlroy said. 'So it shouldn't have been a big deal for me.' The best honorary member Dustin Johnson had not played Oakmont since the won the U.S. Open in 2016. That's not to say he hasn't been back to the fabled club. Oakmont Country Club honors its major champions by offering them honorary membership. Advertisement Johnson went back a few years later for the honor, going to a dinner and getting his green jacket (he got the more famous green jacket a few years later at the Masters). Honorary membership has its privileges that Johnson doesn't use. 'I'm probably their favorite member because I never come,' he said. Oakmont need not to be offended. Johnson was asked how many clubs he had honorary membership and he didn't bother counting. 'Quite a few,' he said. 'And I don't use very many, either.' ___ AP golf:
