The Open Championship: Power ranking the top 10 for Carnoustie
It’s not a huge upset that the world No. 1 gets the No. 1 spot in the rankings this week.
DJ is twice a winner on the PGA Tour this year (Tournament of Champions, St. Jude Classic) and has made 14 straight cuts worldwide dating back to the 2017 U.S. Open.
In that span he also won a FedEx Cup playoff event and has three additional top-threes, including a solo third in his last start at the U.S. Open.
With nearly a month off, DJ will be rested heading into an event he’s played well at before.
Johnson’s made eight of nine cuts at the Open Championship including a T2 in 2011 and a pair of T9s in 2012 and 2016.
He has seen Carnoustie once before in 2011 when he played the Dunhill Links. His caddie and brother, Austin, also saw the course as he was alongside Dustin in the pro-am group.
The world no.1 is in town 😎 @DJohnsonPGA #TheOpen pic.twitter.com/BWaRuYRcmT
— The Open (@TheOpen) July 14, 2018
The 34-year-old is first on the PGA Tour in strokes gained off the tee and 10th in approaches to produce first in SG tee to green and first in SG total.
He’s also having his best putting year ever thus far, checking in at 18th strokes gained. The even-keeled Johnson is also first in bounceback percentage, a seemingly important statistic at a course where everyone’s bound to make some bogeys.
Heading into the weekend at the U.S. Open, it looked like it was DJ’s for the taking. He’s had his chances to win on the other side of the pond; this is the year he gets it done.