AUSTIN, Texas (KTRK) – Dustin Johnson isn’t putting well, so don’t tell him.
With a 2-up victory over Brooks Koepka in the quarterfinals, the 2017 WGC-Dell Technologies Match Play champion moved to the final four, and he was delighted with how his game is coming together after sliding below the top 10 in the world ranking for the first time since March 2015. Just don’t bring up the subject of his putting.
“I didn’t hole a lot of putts today, especially this morning or afternoon,” he remarked, “but the conditions were tougher this afternoon, and the greens got a little faster.” “I felt like I shot some beautiful putts, but I didn’t make anything until 14,” says the player.
Johnson is having a season-best putting week, according to statistics. He’s tied for second in the field in strokes gained: putting, having gained over 7 12 shots on the greens at Austin Country Club.
In comparison to how he would play a stroke-play event, the match-play format suggests Johnson is being more aggressive on the greens.
“You’d think so, but I’ve had to make putts a few of times and left them short, so it wasn’t that aggressive,” Johnson, who will face Scottie Scheffler in the semifinals, said. “It’s difficult to assess the speed of some of these putts because they’re rolling at 10 [on the Stimpmeter] uphill and 25 [downhill].” It’s sometimes difficult to determine the speed.”
Despite his putting difficulties, Johnson was outstanding on Saturday, winning 3-and-2 against Richard Bland in the Sweet 16 and then defeating Koepka in the afternoon.
