What On Earth Has Happened To Dustin Johnson?

When almost bumping into Dustin Johnson as he ambled his way past the media center at The Open last month, I was tempted to put this question to him. Maybe I wouldn't have been quite so blunt, but I'd have loved a few honest words on his decline.

He probably would have offered up a minute or two of his time, too. He was unaccompanied - no manager present and no caddie with clubs. I would not have been shocked if he'd stopped and asked for directions to the nearest ice cream van.

Johnson joined LIV Golf in June 2022. At the time, he was ranked 13th in the Official World Golf Ranking (OWGR). That month, at the US Open, he was asked how sharp his game would be playing 54-hole golf with limited fields and no cuts.

"Just as sharp as I would be playing anywhere," he replied. Whether or not he genuinely believed that only he knows, but his results in the Major Championships in the three years since he resigned his PGA Tour membership suggest his game has suffered.

Despite an encouraging display at Royal Portrush in The Open, where he finished just outside the top 20, he's been a shadow of his former self in the blue ribbon events.

Since the start of 2024, the former World No.1 has played in eight Majors and missed the cut in five of them. Had it not been for old 'DJ' turning up in Northern Ireland, he'd have had an 'MC' next to all four of them this year.

So, what has happened to Dustin Johnson?

Let's remind ourselves of the player he once was. In his pomp, no one struck the ball better off the tee. Once he figured how to wedge it close - which took a little time - he became the complete player. He was unstoppable.

He really was that good, not quite Tiger or Scottie Scheffler good, but a pretty dominant force between 2017 and 2020, racking up title after title.

Johnson wasn't quite box office, and he didn't offer too much in the way of insight when he spoke, but there was something satisfying - and occasionally quite amusing - about watching the laid back South Carolinian wallop the ball around the golf course with the minimum of fuss.

Before that glittering spell in the last 2010s, he was described as one of the best players never to have won a Major Championship. It was an unwanted tag. Thankfully, he got that monkey off his back.

He blew a few opportunities. However, even when he did - think Pebble Beach in 2010, where he threw away a three-shot lead at the US Open with a final-round 82 - he didn't seem overly perturbed.

When asked about the unwanted tag, he'd just shrug it off. Anyone wanting to get some kind of reaction out of him would be wasting their time.

And when he did finally win his national open six years later at Oakmont Country Club, he showed incredible mental toughness, playing the last six holes with the uncertainty of one-shot penalty hanging over him.

In February 2017, Johnson became World No.1 for the first time, a position he shared on and off for several years.

You could argue that he peaked in the autumn of 2020, Johnson obliterating the field at Augusta National in to win his second Major title, before sobbing into the mic during an emotional winner's speech.

That was the American's last PGA Tour title, number 24. A little over two years later, Johnson signed with LIV for a reported $125 million.

In the Full Swing docuseries on Netflix, Johnson explained his reasons for joining the Saudi-backed circuit.

"For me it was playing less, making more money. Pretty simple," he said in Episode 5: American Dreams.

"Someone offers anyone a job, doing the same thing they're already doing but less time at the office and they're gonna pay them more. Pretty sure you're gonna take it. And something's wrong with you if you didn't."

Johnson's bank balance may have swollen considerably since he joined LIV. However, in February of 2023, he officially dropped out of the world's top 50 for the first time.

He's undoubtedly a better player than 573rd in the world, his current ranking, which has a lot to do with the very few OWGR-sanctioned events that he has played since deflecting to LIV.

However, he's a player who's become used to having weekends off on the Major Championship stage and is quite simply nowhere near the player he was five years ago.

He was crowned the inaugural LIV Golf Individual Champion in 2022, winning the $18 million first prize with an event to spare. A year later, he came fifth and then, last year, 14th. At the time of writing, he sits 24th in the 2025 league.

"I'm happy with the game. It's trending in the right direction," he said after shooting a 69 in the second round of The Open.

Two more rounds in the 60s, including a four-under 67 in round three, suggested that he might be doing so.

However, he followed up his promising Open by finishing stone-cold last (54th) at LIV Golf UK at JCB Golf & Country Club, the second time this year he has propped up the entire field.

Maybe we shouldn't be surprised by his up-and-down form. Johnson might still want to compete, but this is not someone who is consumed by golf. Yes, he's won some of the biggest tournaments in the sport, including six World Golf Championships (only Woods won more with 18), but this is a player who's just not that fussed about chasing history.

"I think I’ve got another six years in me. I can grind for another six years," he told the Associated Press prior to this year's US Open. "And then I’m going fishing."

Fifteen years ago, during a trip across the pond to play in the Scandinavian Masters, we learned of his plans to take a private jet to Ibiza with his friends.

He does what he likes, does DJ, and at his own pace - which is usually nice and slow. He loves his golf, but he also enjoys his time off the fairways. Sometimes, it's probably the other things in life that gives him more satisfaction. Who are we to criticize?

At 41, he's thinking about retirement. It might be a bit sad for his army of fans, but he made his bed when he cashed in with LIV - and he doesn't appear to have any regrets. Not yet, anyway.

Even so, he was 37 when he decided to leave the PGA Tour, just a year older than Rory McIlroy is now, and the Northern Irishman, the World No. 2, looks as good as ever.

So it's been disappointing to witness his decline, and hard not to wonder what might have been had he resisted the cash.

Maybe the change of tours has had nothing to do with it. Maybe he was moving towards a feeling of being happy with his lot as soon as he slipped on his Green Jacket.

Only DJ really knows.