Masters 2025: Dustin Johnson once seemed destined to gobble up majors. But times have changed

AUGUSTA, Ga. — The first thing worth noting about Dustin Johnson’s second round in the Masters is that he finished bogey-double bogey to ruin not only a perfectly decent scorecard but also his plans for the weekend.

The second thing worth noting is that he finished bogey-double bogey and still was willing to step up to a microphone and talk about it.

“I'm playing better than I scored for sure. Didn't score very well,” Johnson said following a one-over 73 that dropped him out of the top 50 that qualifies for the final two rounds. “Yeah, tough finish there. Played pretty solid all day until the last two holes. Golf is a funny game, as I did today, shooting one over. You play the same round and shoot four, five under. Just a couple of putts here and there drop and gives you a little momentum, a little confidence, [and] it's a different day.”

Until the dyspeptic developments of the final two holes, Johnson was looking a bit more like the guy who won this event in the fall of 2020—the quiet Masters when spectators were not permitted on the premises due to the COVID-19 pandemic—than the player who shot 78-79 a year ago while searching for a driver he could trust.

He completed 36 holes in three-over 147 and looked clearly miffed as he walked to the scoring room. As anyone who finished 5-6 would. Even so, he dropped a typical Johnson pearl, saying with a trademark shrug: “You know, this golf course, it's a pretty tough finish. If you drive it in the fairway, it's not tough. You miss the fairway, it's difficult.”

A two-time major champion, Johnson is that rare LIV defector who does not evoke enmity or resentment, even though he was the first true marquee name to leave the PGA Tour in 2022. He took the millions, shut his trap, didn’t sue his former tour and stayed out of the headlines.

He hasn’t exactly thrived on the LIV Golf League, though he has three individual titles and serves as captain of the 4Aces that won the team title in the inaugural season. He has missed the cut in four of 11 majors since he departed for LIV riches against two top-10 finishes, and he has missed the cut in the Masters three times since winning his green jacket.

Next up on the major calendar is the PGA Championship at Quail Hollow Club in Charlotte, N.C., the final year he is eligible from his Masters triumph. But what should prove intriguing is his return to Oakmont Country Club, near Pittsburgh, in June for the U.S. Open, where he won his first major the last time the legendary venue hosted the event in 2016. That victory came on the heels of a disheartening conclusion to the championship the year prior when he three-putted the 72nd hole at Chambers Bay to lose by a stroke to Jordan Spieth.

The man is nothing if not resilient.

He wouldn’t say he was looking forward to a return to one of the most punishing U.S. Open exams. Perhaps because he is not yet as sharp as he was in 2016 when he won by three strokes—even after the USGA tacked on a penalty stroke at the end for a rules infraction that occurred early in the final round. But you could tell he cares.

“I like the course. It's right in front of you, but it's just hard,” he said. “Hopefully the game is in really good form when you pull in.”

Three LIV events and the PGA precede the U.S. Open. Whether that is enough competition to prepare for Oakmont remains to be seen. Therein lies the rub. He had no special plans to get ready. “You know, for me, just got to clean up the mistakes a little bit,” he said. “The game is in good form. Just got to limit the mistakes. All it takes is one good round though, and it's kind of right back into it.

“The game is really close. Yeah, just got to keep at it.”

Johnson turns 41 the Sunday after the U.S. Open. If he truly does keep at it, the former World No. 1 might just finish off a few majors stronger than he did at Augusta. LIV riches aside, you get the feeling he'd like nothing more.