Two major titles, 24 PGA Tour wins and nearly $75M in on-course earnings put him as one of the greatest talents of his generation. There aren’t many golfers over the past 15 years who’ve performed as well as Johnson.
He’s done it with an arsenal of skills that most players dream of. He hits the ball long and straight. He’s dialed in his wedges so well that it propelled him to one of the best runs in recent memory. And when his putter is hot, it’s tough to stop him.
However, while Johnson’s physical attributes are impressive, it’s his mental game that separates him from his peers.
That ability to shake off even the ugliest swings is one of the reasons he’s been so successful during his storied career.
“He was just under-reacting to anything that happened,” Higgs said. “The man is a savant at what he does. It is so wildly impressive. Yes, he has been given and honed and worked probably the top three, five greatest physical attributes and skills that anybody has ever had in this game. But he has also honed — and I’ve heard Rory talk about this — the greatest way to approach high-level competitive golf. Dustin Johnson owns that.”
Zephyr Melton is an assistant editor for GOLF.com where he spends his days blogging, producing and editing. Prior to joining the team at GOLF, he attended the University of Texas followed by stops with the Texas Golf Association, Team USA, the Green Bay Packers and the PGA Tour. He assists on all things instruction and covers amateur and women’s golf. He can be reached at zephyr_melton@golf.com.