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Dustin Johnson's U.S. Open driving stats at Oakmont were absurd
To the naked eye, Dustin Johnson's performance off the tee at Oakmont during the 116th U.S. Open was sensational. And now, fortunately, we have a stat that confirms just how well DJ drove it for the week. And boy, did he drive it well.
Johnson finished the week first in strokes gained off the tee at 2.4. That means he gained 2.4 strokes on the field per round with just his tee shots.
In other words, "sensational" may have been an understatement.
To put that number in perspective, Jason Dufner ranked No. 2 in strokes gained off the tee at Oakmont at 1.5. That means that even compared to the second-best driver of the week, Johnson gained nearly four shots over four rounds.
We're used to Johnson dominating off the tee, but not quite to this level. Entering the tournament, he ranked third on the PGA Tour in strokes gained off the tee (There's a clearer Big 3 in this metric with Rory McIlroy, Bubba Watson and DJ) with a 1.040 average.
Of course, Johnson did everything else pretty well also. He was 11th in strokes gained approach-the-green (Did you see that 6-iron into 18 on Sunday?!), 24th in strokes gained around the green and 30th in strokes gained putting. So what did Johnson think the best part of his game was?
"I think everything. I drove it -- I thought I drove it really well today," Johnson said after. "I hit my driver really well. So I think that would have been the best part of my game today."
Good call, DJ.