Dustin Johnson’s latest putting drill looks really difficult

Given how elite Dustin Johnson’s game is from tee-to-green, it’s easy to gloss over that his putting is sneaky good, too. Especially in recent years.

DJ ranked 25th in SG: Putting in 2018 and is 27th so far in 2019, a notably above-average clip that’s especially impressive considering he’s not padding those numbers by missing a lot of greens and chipping it close. He ranked 1st and 2nd in SG: Tee-to-Green in 2018 and this season to date, respectively.

Either way, it’s always interesting to take a glimpse into how professional golfers practice their craft, and earlier this week, we got a look at a tricky drill DJ uses to train.

Here it is, via his coach Allen Terrell’s Instagram account:

There are a few things going on here.

First you’ll see the two coins halfway between where DJ hit his putt and the hole. The coins form a gate, and the goal is for Dustin to roll his ball through it so he can practice rolling his ball on the correct starting line.

But that’s not all.

About a foot beyond the hole is an alignment rod on the ground. It’s also a distance control drill: The goal is to either knock your ball in the hole (obviously), and if it doesn’t go in, hit it with the perfect amount of speed so it ends up beyond the hole but not so far that it hits the alignment rod.

Try it yourself and you’ll see how difficult it is. DJ isn’t just mindlessly hitting putts here. He’s practicing hitting the ball on the perfect line with the perfect speed.

He’s practicing with a purpose, and it’s the reason why he’s one of the best players on the planet.

To receive GOLF’s all-new newsletters, subscribe for free here.