GAINESVILLE, GAINESVILLE, GAINESVILLE, GAINESVILLE, GA Dustin Johnson’s 2020 Masters victory was hardly a surprise. His winning campaign was a masterclass in ball striking, especially off the tee, with the eventual champion placing 13th in driving accuracy and sixth in driving distance.
Johnson is in a similar situation after Day 1 of this year’s Masters, where he shot a 69 to finish two strokes behind the leader, but his road to the top was substantially different.
“It was the wind,” says the narrator. That’s what made it so difficult. It was really windy. “Sometimes, especially around here, it’s incredibly hard to get a beat on if there’s a lot of crosswind,” Johnson said after a 3-under 69 opening round that put him in a tie for third.
On Thursday at Augusta National Golf Club, he was 59th in driving distance (283 yards) and 78th in driving accuracy (57 percent). Johnson’s dismal performance off the tee, which featured a couple of 3-wood tee shots, didn’t improve his mood.
“I hit a lot of 3-woods today because I wasn’t feeling particularly confident with the driver, which is unusual for me.” It’s usually the other way around,” he explained. “I was able to turn the game around quite well; all I had to do was maintain it in play.”
