Nine years ago, Dustin Johnson cast off the ‘best player never to win a major’ stain in style, overcoming a dubious final-round penalty and arguably the toughest golf course on the USGA rotation to claim the US Open title at Oakmont.
The golf course may have undergone changes in the near-decade that’s passed, but the former world number one isn’t expecting it to play any easier than it did when he outgunned Shane Lowry on the final day.
“It feels really good,” he said when quizzed about what it was like to be back at a venue with such fond memories attached. “The course is just as hard as I remember, if not harder. Yeah, I like coming back here. I love the golf course.
“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.
“Yeah, it’s really nice to be back.”
He admitted that Oakmont is probably the hardest course he’s ever played, but when pushed to name a runner-up, he struggled.
“It’s hard to compare,” he said. “I’ve played some hard courses, but it all depends on the conditions. This one’s hard no matter what — soft, firm, windy, no wind.”
Johnson was the only player in the field better than -1 when all 72 holes were completed, and it was largely down to his accuracy off the tee, he feels. Accuracy and length, of course, and the additional yardage will only make driving accuracy even more important.
“I drove it really straight. I hit a lot of fairways. That was the only reason I shot that well,” he recalled.
“I don’t know, it seems like it’s tougher this time around, but that’s just maybe with the little bit of added length. It’s going to make it a little more difficult.
“But yeah, somehow I figured out a way to get it under par. It was mostly the driving. Obviously even driving it in the fairway here, it’s still really difficult, but I hit a lot of good drives and a lot of good iron shots.”
Though he’s been far from his best in 2025, he recorded his third top-10 finish of the season at LIV Virginia last week. The major championships have been a different story though, and he’s 0-for-2 in cuts made in the game’s elite events this year. But he still feels that he’s not too far away.
“Golf is a strange sport,” he shrugged. “I don’t feel like I’ve slipped any. My scores haven’t reflected, but it is a really fine line.
“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.”
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