Baseball Hall of Fame catcher Carlton Fisk once said:
“It’s not what you achieve, it’s what you overcome. That’s what defines your career.”
Last Sunday at the 116th U.S. Open Championship, Dustin Johnson did what many thought he couldn’t do.
Johnson stepped up under the worst of circumstances and won his first major championship. Up until that point, he had been just a talented, tragic figure in big-time golf.
His heart had been shattered time and again in majors, starting at the 2010 U.S. Open at Pebble Beach, playing in the final pairing, he shot a Sunday 82. In 2011, he was right in the hunt down the stretch at the Open Championship when he parked a shot out-of-bounds at the 14th. Darren Clarke went on to win his only major title.
Last year he had a double-whammy. The three-putt from 12-feet on the 72nd green at Chambers Bay will be talked about forever. Then at St. Andrews, after shooting 65-69, a pair of 75s over the weekend left him dangling in the depths of what might have been.
Nothing could be worse than the 2010 PGA Championship at Whistling Straits where he held a one-shot lead on the 72nd hole. No one will forget the bunker controversy. He bogeyed the hole and seemed headed for a playoff with Bubba Watson and eventual winner Martin Kaymer. But a two-shot penalty for grounding his club before his second shot once again threw yet another heartbreak at this talented player.
How on earth do you overcome that sort of misery on a championship resume?
Yet there we were, watching the USGA torment Johnson on the 12th tee of the final round last Sunday, insinuating that there would be a penalty after-the-fact when a walking USGA official had already cleared Johnson of a possible wobbling ball penalty on the fifth green.
How does one possibly excel under those circumstances?
Johnson did and he did when his past would indicate that it would be very difficult for him under the circumstances.
It wasn’t the glory of hoisting that U.S. Open trophy, it was the journey, the journey that exorcised a lifetime of demons.
Off the course, Johnson has had more than his share of trouble.
The most recent came back in July of 2014 when he decided to voluntarily step away from the PGA Tour.
Golf.com reported that came as a result of a third failed drug test. Johnson denied the allegations and attributed his leave of absence to binge drinking.
There were also rumors of Johnson having an affair with the wife of another player.
In 2009, he was arrested in his hometown of Myrtle Beach on suspicion of DUI. The charges were later dropped down to reckless driving.
He had problems as a juvenile as well, but it’s time to put that behind.
Hopefully, D.J. has put EVERYTHING from his troubled past behind him.
He has Paulina, 18-month-old son Tatum and now a major championship.
His career is heading in a Hall Of Fame direction.
“He’s never been more balanced,” says his instructor, Claude Harmon III, son of Butch.
“I finally got the monkey off my back,” Johnson said after last week’s break-through victory.
It was more like an 800-pound gorilla.
Nonetheless, things are looking up for D.J.
After the nonsense he overcame last week, it’s more than deserving.
This guy proved that he’s not just an incredible athlete who wins a tournament a year by accident.
He should be a major factor in any major from now on.
And that is good for golf.
