After long break, Dustin Johnson is refreshed, eager to put frustrating 2021 behind him

SAN DIEGO, Cali. – There are breaks and then there are Dustin Johnson breaks.

Johnson said he needed to hit the reset button after a frustrating 2021 campaign, so he basically took the last four months of last year off and got away from golf. Since the first week of last September, he played in one PGA Tour event – a tie for 48^th in the CJ Cup in mid-October. And at home, he said he only played a couple of rounds with his buddies.

“It’s been a while,” Johnson said Tuesday when he sat down in the media center ahead of Wednesday’s start of the Farmers Insurance Open.

He’s been away so long that when he stepped up to the tee of the first hole on the North Course for a practice round on Sunday, he was taken aback.

“I’m like, ‘Whoa, this fairway’s narrow,’” he said. “I’ve been playing at home in Florida, the fairway’s a little bit wider. A little like I was hitting down a hallway.”

Still, Johnson wouldn’t have changed a thing to last year’s itinerary. He spent most of the time at home with his family, went fishing a lot. Took a couple of trips. Anything, he said, but golf.

“I was frustrated with everything, so a break was what I needed,” Johnson, 37, said. “And one thing that I was really frustrated with was with my driver and we got a new driver this year, the new (TaylorMade) Stealth driver, and I really like it.

“I just needed a reset with my mind, body, everything. Just like I said, I was really frustrated with how I played last year.”

Especially after what he did in 2020. He won four PGA Tour titles – he has 24 now – and the November Masters, his second major. He also finished runner-up four times, was third once. He was clearly the No. 1 player in the world.

And then in February, he won the Saudi International.

After that? Frustration set in, his driver and putter went cold, and he had nearly as many missed cuts – four – as top 10s – five – in 18 starts. Missed the cut in the Masters as the defending champion, missed the cut in the PGA Championship. Fell off his perch atop the world rankings and is now No. 4.

No one, including Johnson, saw that stretch coming, especially for a guy who had won 15 times since the calendar turned to 2016.

“It was frustrating to me just because I just wasn’t consistent,” Johnson said. “Obviously I put a lot of good rounds together, but I just couldn’t put four rounds together. It felt like when I was hitting the driver good, I wasn’t hitting my irons very well. If I was hitting my irons well, I wasn’t driving it good. Just nothing was matching up. It just gets frustrating when you do it for eight months straight.”

But he’s refreshed and ready to go despite his checkered past at Torrey Pines – nine starts in the Farmers, one top 10. He also tied for 19^th in the U.S. Open at Torrey Pines last year.

“The courses are in great shape. Obviously game’s coming along. I’m hitting it a little better than I thought I might, but obviously still got a lot of work to do to get back to where I want to be,” he said.

But he’s happy with the work he’s put into his new driver. He said he knew right away the change would work out.

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“Once I hit the new driver, everything was good,” he said. “It was just something. I don’t know if it was the weighting or whatever it was. Just really struggled to get one that I really liked or that produced the shots that I wanted to hit last year.”

His first shots of 2021 come Wednesday.

“Last week I started hitting balls again. It’s been pretty good,” he said. “The progression’s been nice. Each day I see it’s getting a little bit better, a little bit more consistency. That’s what I wanted.

“Whether I play well or not, I couldn’t tell you, but I feel like the game is there. It’s a great test of golf so for me I’m excited to see where the game’s at.”