Dustin Johnson was well on his way to producing another huge year in 2019 when he won twice in the first two months, returned to No. 1 in the world and then posted two second-place finishes in the first two major championships.
Then DJ basically went AWOL.
After winning the Saudi International on the European Tour and notching his 20th PGA Tour title at the World Golf Championships-Mexico Championship, Johnson tied for second behind Tiger Woods at the Masters and finished runner-up to Brooks Koepka in the PGA Championship.
After that, however, Johnson didn’t finish in the top 10 again in eight starts to end the 2018-19 season, with a tie for 20th in the WGC-FedEx St. Jude Invitational and Canadian Open his best results. It was the longest stretch without a top 10 in a season since his rookie year in 2008.
Turns out his left knee wasn’t right.
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Even when he won twice and contended in the first two majors, Johnson knew something just wasn’t right with his left knee. He rehabbed the knee instead of opting for a surgical procedure, but as the weeks passed, the knee got progressively worse.
As did his form. Johnson said he was “hanging back too much” in his swing and losing control over the golf ball. As much as he tried, he couldn’t make the ball do what he wanted it to do. Johnson decided enough was enough and after the Tour Championship, he had arthroscopic surgery Sept. 5 to repair cartilage damage. The procedure was considered routine and similar to one he had to the same knee in December of 2011.
Johnson, 35, didn’t play again until the Presidents Cup in December, when he went 2-2-0 as the Americans defeated the Internationals. In Australia, Johnson said there were just a few moments of minor pain in the knee that have now disappeared.
“Game is in good form, so I’m excited about this year,” Johnson said ahead of Thursday’s start of the Sentry Tournament of Champions on the Plantation Course at Kapalua in Maui.
“I’m healthy. My knee feels good. No issues there. So I’m looking forward to this year and hopefully getting back to the form I was in a couple years ago.”
He’s in the ideal spot to make that happen.
Maui is one of Johnson’s favorite places in the world and the Plantation Course fits him to a tee – long, mountainous and scoreable. This will be Johnson’s 10th start in Maui and he hasn’t been out of the top 10 since 2010, winning in 2013 and 2018.
In 35 trips around the Plantation Course, he’s failed to break par just four times.
“It’s a place I always enjoy coming to,” said Johnson, the No. 5 player in the world.
Johnson didn’t waste time getting to the course upon his arrival in Hawaii and played the revamped, par-73 Plantation Course every day for a week ahead of the first round.
He likes the changes to the course – a few new tees making the course longer, and the new greens that are playing firm. And he likes feeling 100% again.
“It’s a great way to start off the year,” Johnson said. “I was pleased with the game and how I played (in the Presidents Cup), especially being my first week back and coming off of surgery. My game is in good form. I feel pretty good again.”
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