2021 Valspar Championship: Top 10 power rankings at Innisbrook
Nine years passed between Dustin Johnson’s first and second appearance at the Valspar Championship. It didn’t look like it in 2019 when he bounced back from a missed cut at the Copperhead course early in his career to finish T-6th nearly a decade later.
Johnson was in contention through 54 holes thanks to rounds of 69-69-67 before falling back on Sunday with a 74.
He admitted he added the event to his schedule to help meet the PGA Tour’s requirement for players to add one event to their season schedule that they haven’t played in at least four years.
It made sense for DJ to skip this event early in his career as more of a gunslinging type. That doesn’t work well at Innisbrook.
He’s got better course management these days and is more patient.
Johnson will try to get his groove back after a flummoxing stretch of golf through most of 2021. The year started off promising when the 36-year-old American won the European Tour’s Saudi International.
Perhaps some bad juju from taking the money in the Middle East is hanging with him as DJ’s dont no better than eighth place in his next six starts since. That includes a missed cut in his Masters defense.
The South Carolinian did bounce back with T-13th a couple weeks ago at the RBC Heritage where Harbour Town makes the Copperhead course look sprawling. He took off last week’s event in New Orleans, so a week off against a field filled with guys playing for the second or third week in a row will be another advantage.
The putter is largely to blame for his recent struggles. He should be more comfortable on Bermuda this week. If that’s the case, his ball striking numbers are solid: 28th in strokes gained off the tee (.371), 20th in SG approach (.579) and 18th in proximity from the rough (41’).
We’ve seen DJ flip the switch back on quickly after short slumps like this. I really like his chances coming up at Kiawah Island for the PGA Championship. A win at the Valspar Championship would be a good way to flex his muscles again and remind us why he’s been world No. 1 for eight months running.