Then there was one.
Just one guy good enough to crack golf’s version of the DaVinci Code — Shinnecock Hills.
The 118th U.S. Open Championship is under the control of the world’s best player after 36 testy holes and he looks every bit of his No. 1 ranking.
Dustin Johnson has looked like the Doomsday Swinging Machine compared to the rest. He’s been awfully long, pretty darn accurate, has scrambled magnificently and putted with confidence.
Add those up and he’s the only guy to go sub-70 in each of the first two rounds — 69 on Thursday then a masterful 67 Friday in tough early morning conditions in rain and wind that made for another day on an ornery golf course.
Things turned for the better in the afternoon, giving those chasing him a real shot at getting close.
Ian Poulter was doing his best to run down D.J. He played the back nine one-over and was even for the tournament. Then he took advantage of no wind and softer conditions with birdies at four, five then another at seven that drew him within one-shot of Johnson.
But quicker than you could say “God Save The Queen,” the Englishman gave it all back on the eighth with a really bad bunker shot that went sailing over the green and into trouble. Three shots later he was finally on the green, then finally in the hole with a triple-bogey seven. He bogeyed nine and went from a Saturday date with D.J. to a spot with the lads in at one-over par.
Poulter chalked it up to “a lapse in concentration.”
Johnson never had any of those on Friday. His only mistake was physical, a thin shot at the first, his 10th, that found a bunker and he’d miss for par from 12 feet — his only bogey in a round of three-under that put him at four-under, four clear of Scott Piercy and Charley Hoffman — two guys who won’t scare anyone in a major.
Johnson was his usual mellow self afterward.
“Yeah, I felt like today was another really solid round, played really well. A couple times where I hit a couple of bad iron shots, but every time I felt like I was able to save par, at least give myself a really good look at par. My only bogey I made today on No. 1, I still had a decent look at par, 10-, 12-footer or something for par. I mean, I felt like today was really solid in some tough conditions.
“You’ve got to play really good golf if you want to shoot a good score, and I like where par is a good score on every hole no matter what club you got in your hand, what hole it is. A par is a really good score. Around here, the fairways are fairly generous, but with crosswinds on every hole, they’re still tough to hit. Even though you’re in the middle of the fairway, a lot of times with a wedge you’ve still got to hit a good shot just to give yourself a 15- or 20-footer,” Johnson said after his day was done.
He goes into Saturday’s third round looking like the best man on the property.
There have been no apparent weaknesses and playing partner Tiger Woods offered his testimony:
“Dustin was in complete control of what he’s doing. He’s hitting the ball so flush and so solid. I know it’s windy, it’s blustery, it was raining early, but he’s hitting right through it. It was good to see because I watched a little bit of it last week and he was doing the same thing down there, but he’s brought it up here and is doing it under these conditions, and he’s got beautiful speed on the greens.
“Every putt looked like it was going to go in. Even though it didn’t, just had that look and that pace.”
They used to talk about Tiger like that, but that was another decade ago.
Now it’s about Johnson and his chance to bag a second major.
