U.S. Open: Dustin Johnson returned to the top, then vanished at Shinnecock

Dustin Johnson reacts after missing a putt on the sixth hole during the second round of the U.S. Open.AP Photo/Gerald HerbertWhen Dustin Johnson’s golf career is over, the book written about his career should be titled, “What could have been …”

>What could have been … had he not grounded his club at the 2010 PGA Championship?

>What could have been … had he not fallen pray to some off-course issues?

>What could have been … had he not “fallen down those steps” prior to the 2017 Masters, where he was the overwhelming favorite going in?

>What could have been … had he just dedicated himself more, realizing his full potential, which was maybe more than anyone else in the world?

>And of course, what could have been … had he not taken the bag to leave the PGA Tour for LIV golf?

>When he left the tour in 2022, Johnson was only a few months removed from being ranked No. 5 in the world. Now, he’s plummeted all the way to 245th, and that’s not just because he’s not earning ranking points over at LIV.

>Johnson’s game has completely fallen apart in the years since.

>So when he popped up near the top of the leaderboard after Round 1 of this U.S. Open, well, it appeared the former No. 1 in the world was turning back the clock. Early in Round 2, he was within a shot of the lead — -4 to Wyndham Clark’s -5. And then … within an hour, he went from one off the lead to in danger of missing the cut. It started with a double at 11, bogeys at 12 and 13, and then a quadruple 8 at the 15th.

It’s the kind of implosion normally reserved for amateurs who get a glance at the leaderboard and suddenly realize the magnitude of it all. Only, this was a player who, at one point, was anointed the “next” one.

>Early in his career, Johnson was haunted by what happened on the final hole at the 2010 PGA Championship. Leading by one, he grounded his club in what he didn’t think was a bunker. It was, and he was docked two strokes — enough to eject him out of the lead, out of a playoff and into a tie for fifth.

>Then came the off-course speculation of Johnson not exactly putting his golf game first. That led to a self-imposed sabbatical in 2014 to get himself right.

>And he seemingly did.

>Two years later, he was standing on the 18th green at Oakmont, having just conquered the hardest course in golf — not to mention a questionable ruling by the USGA — to win the 2016 U.S. Open, his first major victory.

>Another would come at Augusta in 2020 — the COVID Masters. But that would be the pinnacle. By then, his game had started to slide. The following April, he’d miss the cut at the Masters, then again at the PGA. Within a year, he was off to LIV, taking a massive paycheck that, if we’re honest, his golf game could no longer cash — at least not on the PGA Tour.

>

>Over at LIV, he’s won three times, but none since 2024. This season has been a slog, until recently. He finished fourth at LIV Korea in late May, then fifth at Andalucia. His game appeared to be coming around.

>That carried over to Round 1 at Shinnecock, where he kept pace with Clark, the first round leader … until he hit that back-nine stretch of disaster in Round 2. He did bounce back with a birdie at 16 to put himself on the good side of the projected cut line — he’s at +3 after going 66, 77 — but he’s going to have an early tee time on Saturday, something he’s become all too familiar with, if he even makes it to the weekend at all anymore.

>It was certainly fun while it lasted, having Dustin Johnson back in the mix, but it also leaves you wondering: What could have been …