Proof that it's DJ's day. pic.twitter.com/nC350pZTjL
— Golf Digest (@GolfDigest) January 8, 2018
“Dustin Johnson is an alien.”
That was a tweet I saw on Sunday night. It was meant as a compliment and tinged with more than a little bit of truth. The rangy and powerful Johnson played golf in Maui this past weekend as if he hails from some distant planet on which 400-yard drives are commonplace.
Johnson obliterated the field of winners at the Sentry Tournament of Champions on Kapalua’s Plantation Course. He won by eight strokes—a record-tying margin—by shooting a final-round 65 for a tournament total of 268 or 24-under par. With win No. 17 on the PGA Tour, Johnson tightened his grip on the world No. 1 ranking he has held for nearly a year.
“I’ve got a lot of confidence in my game,” Johnson said. “I’m hitting the shots I want to hit. For the most part all the shots I hit were the shots I wanted to hit.”
Exhibit A might be the drive he blasted at the 433-yard par-4 12th hole during the final round. Coming off a bogey, the big man put the hurt on his TaylorMade TP5x golf ball. When it stopped rolling, it rested less than a foot in front of the hole. Thus began a stretch of five holes played in five under. And it was game over.
“I guess the most difficult part is trying to stay within your own game,” world No. 2 Jordan Spieth said about competing against DJ. “He’s obviously the No. 1 player in the world,” said Rickie Fowler, “and that doesn’t happen by chance.”
Johnson began 2018 with some other worldly ball-striking stats. According to Golf World, using his new TaylorMade M4 driver, Johnson hit six drives on Sunday over 370 yards. Two of those drives, including the near ace at No. 12, were in excess of 400 yards. And, not surprisingly, he also hit a lot of greens in regulation, all but five in the last 36 holes. For the tournament, he was sixth for stokes gained/putting.
“If I can play like that every week,” Johnson said, “I’m going to win a lot of times.”
That, I’m afraid, is not an encouraging thought for golfers on planet earth.
DJ is a TaylorMade man throughout his bag. Here’s a look at the clubs he used to win the Sentry Tournament of Champions.
Dustin Johnson’s Clubs
(As reported by PGATOUR.COM)
Driver: TaylorMade M4 (9.5 degrees) with Fujikura Speeder 661 Evolution 2.0 Tour Spec X shaft
3-Wood: TaylorMade M4 3HL (16.5 degrees) with Project X HZRDUS Black 6.5 95X shaft
Irons: TaylorMade P-790 (3 iron) with True Temper Dynamic Gold Tour Issue X100 shaft; TaylorMade P-730 DJ Proto (4-PW) with True Temper Dynamic Gold Tour Issue X100 shafts
Wedges: TaylorMade Milled Grind (52 and 60 degrees) with KBS Tour Black 130X shafts; TaylorMade Hi-Toe (64 degrees) with KBS Tour Black 130X shaft
Putter: TaylorMade Spider Tour Black
Ball: TaylorMade TP5x
Neil Sagebiel
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