Dustin Johnson’s major championship woes continued at the U.S. Open and missed the cut, and it’s been claimed that his move to LIV Golf could have played a negative role in his preparation
Dustin Johnson suffered a nightmare second round at the U.S. Open and ended up missing the cut by a considerable distance, the latest setback for the former Masters champion.
Johnson carded a five-over-par on Friday to take his total to a shocking ten-over-par, some way behind the cut line of three-over. The LIV Golf man has secured just two top-ten finishes at major championships since joining the Saudi Arabia-funded breakaway series in a deal worth a reported £118million ($150m). He’s excelled on the LIV tour and earned considerable money, but Alan Shipnuck reports some in Johnson’s circle have fears the LIV move has impacted him in a negative way when it comes to majors.
He reported that a member of Johnson’s team claimed the two-time major champion enjoys routine and having time to prepare for major championships. Shipnuck then posted on X: “Yeah, I know he took barrels of money and that comes with trade offs. Just trying to add some context for his —— play in the majors.”
That time off hasn’t been too easy to come by since joining LIV, and he spent three weeks before the Open Championship in 2023 playing abroad, meaning he didn’t have time to prepare. Johnson ended up missing the cut on that occasion, just as he would then do at the Masters this year.
It should be said Johnson’s woes weren’t shared by all his LIV counterparts. Bryson DeChambeau, who joined the breakaway league at the same time as him, enjoyed a terrific first two rounds and went into Saturday’s session joint second.
DeChambeau has also secured back-to-back top-ten finishes at majors, finishing tied for sixth at the Masters before coming second at the PGA Championship, just one shot behind eventual winner Xander Schauffele.
He certainly wasn’t the only big-name player to miss the cut at Pinehurst No.2, with a whole host of names from both sides of golf’s civil war missing out on the weekend.
Viktor Hovland, Adrian Meronk, Phil Mickelson and Tiger Woods all missed out after struggling with the greens at the North Carolina-based course. Speaking afterwards, Woods suggested the tournament could have been his last entry at a U.S. Open.
Asked if that was his last U.S. Open, he said: “It may or may not be.” He continued: “I’ve only got one more tournament this season – I don’t think even if I win the British Open I don’t think I’ll be in the [PGA Tour] play-offs. Just one more event and then I’ll come back whenever I come back.”