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Dustin Johnson Wins Player of the Year After “Dream Season”

By Kathlene Bissell

Oct 2, 2016; Chaska, MN, USA; Dustin Johnson of the United States lines up a putt on the first green during the single matches in 41st Ryder Cup Hazeltine National Golf Club. Mandatory Credit: John David Mercer-USA TODAY Sports
Oct 2, 2016; Chaska, MN, USA; Dustin Johnson of the United States lines up a putt on the first green during the single matches in 41st Ryder Cup Hazeltine National Golf Club. Mandatory Credit: John David Mercer-USA TODAY Sports /
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Thanks to a spectacular 2015-16 campaign, Dustin Johnson has earned the respect of his peers in the form of the PGA Tour Player of the Year award.

Dustin Johnson was named PGA Tour Player of the Year on Tuesday in a teleconference announcement made by PGA Tour Commissioner Tim Finchem.

“Dustin had a tremendous year in every respect, and I don’t think the players had much difficulty with their decision on who to vote for,” Finchem said. “He finished second to Rory in the FedEx Cup in an incredibly exciting finish. He finished first on the official money list to win the Arnold Palmer Award. He finished first in adjusted scoring average to win the Byron Nelson Award.”

The Player of the Year award is named the Jack Nicklaus Trophy.

“I’m very honored to receive the PGA Tour Player of the Year,” Johnson said. “It was kind of a dream season as far as winning the PGA Tour Player of the Year, winning the money list trophy, which is the Palmer trophy, and then also the lowest scoring average, which is the Nelson Award. You know, all those honors are incredible, and I’m very, very honored to be receiving those awards.”

Johnson’s worst finishes in 2016 were a missed cut at the PGA Championship, a tie for 28th at The Players and a tie for 41st at the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am. In the rest of his 22 starts, he finished no lower than 18th.

“I felt like I played really well and really solid throughout the first half of the year, just had a lot of chances to win some tournaments, just couldn’t quite get it done. But I felt like — it felt like every single week I was up there and had a chance to win,” Johnson said when asked about the season.

The biggest highlight, he noted, was winning his first major, particularly because of all the near misses in his career. The U.S. Open at Oakmont made him a believer in his own game.

“I’ve got a lot of confidence in the game right now, in all parts of the game. I feel good. There’s nothing that I don’t feel good with,” he explained.

He credited his 2016 success to an improved work ethic, saying that in past seasons he worked at a level of perhaps five out of 10, and that last year he elevated it to perhaps seven-and-a-half out of 10.

“There’s still room to work harder, but I feel like I’m at the level that works best for me, where I don’t get too burned out or don’t feel like I’m pushing too hard,” he explained.

Johnson said he focused on his driving and his wedge game in 2016.

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“The driver was really consistent this year. I felt like I hit more fairways, and my misses got more manageable, where even if I hit a bad drive, I still kind of kept it in play and still had a chance,” he explained about one of his best competitive weapons.

One area where Johnson still believes he can improve is his putting. He said he has spent a lot of time on three, six and nine-footers, hitting putts that break both ways at those distances.

“I know it sounds tedious, but working on basic fundamentals, which is set up and then alignment, just making sure those things are in order,” Johnson said about what he does in putting practice.

“I’ll work mostly inside of 10 feet because that’s where the majority of your putts are,” he said. “Where you can improve the most is those, is the shorter distance putts. Just making a lot of putts like that, even from three feet away, just making 100 in a row, just to see the ball going in the hole gives you confidence.”

Johnson will tee it up next in Shanghai, and he will begin 2017 at the Tournament of Champions.

“We usually try to go over a little bit early to hang out and get a few extra practice rounds in,” he said about Kapalua. “I love going over there and playing. They do a great job with that tournament. Their golf course is fun to play, and obviously I’ve won there, so I like the golf course. I’m excited about it.”

Dustin Johnson is one of four players in PGA Tour history to have won a tournament in each of his first nine seasons of professional play. The others are Arnold Palmer, Jack Nicklaus and Tiger Woods. He also won the PGA of America Player of the Year award, which is based on a points system, as well as the PGA’s Vardon Trophy for the lowest scoring average.

“Next year, yeah, I mean, expectations are going to be very high, and hopefully I’m going to play up to this year, and next year hopefully I can have a better year,” he concluded.

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