The PGA Tour returns June 9 after a nearly three-month shutdown due to the spread of the coronavirus. It was quite the break, but golf is back long before other sports are returning. So, what was life like on Tour before the shutdown? Let this series remind you of where we left off.
Who do the majors align best for now?
In hindsight, 10 years down the road, we’ll look back on the 2020 year in golf and it will simply look odd. Zero majors in the first seven months, when there are normally four. Three majors — not four — in about 3.5 months, all of them held differently than previously imagined. This is our reality this year.
So what does it mean for the PGA Tour players who will tee it up in a frantic major chase? One player to consider will be Dustin Johnson. Johnson is unquestionably one of the best players on Tour, though he has dropped from the top 3 in the world ranking, where he sat for a very long time. In August, he’ll visit TPC Harding Park, a long course on which driving into tighter fairways will deliver a premium advantage.
Sure, Johnson could have a tough driving week and flameout in San Francisco. He could also shine, just like he did in the summer heat at Oakmont, where he smashed driver everywhere en route to a three-shot victory.
From there, we head to Winged Foot, a brutish, tough U.S. Open track. The rough will be grown high again and the greens will be wicked fast. Players will complain, like they do almost every year at the U.S. Open. Know who never complains and has dominated uber-tough golf courses? Dustin Johnson. He should have won at Shinnecock, had a helluva run at Bethpage Black and also should have won back at Pebble Beach in 2010.
Lastly, our final major dance of 2020 will be the Masters, held in November. Will it play differently than in April? Undoubtedly. But few players have had a better overall performance at that course and NOT won in the last decade than DJ. Recall last year how he had a great chance to push Tiger Woods on the 18th hole. You could make an argument that Johnson was in great position to give Danny Willett a run for the green jacket back in 2016 as well.
