Dustin Johnson revealed he needed a long period away from golf to reset after a disappointing 2021.
The 37-year-old returns to action this week at the Farmers Insurance Open at Torrey Pines, the first event he has competed in since finishing T45th at the CJ Cup in the middle of October.
While some players might have used that much time away from the pressure of tournaments to quietly work on their game, golf clubs have not been the primary focus for Johnson in recent months.
“Just a lot of time was at home with the family. Did some fishing. Pretty much anything but golf is what it is,” Johnson said.
“Last week I started hitting balls again and so yeah, it’s been pretty good. The progression’s been nice. Each day I see it’s getting a little bit better, a little bit more consistent. That’s what I wanted.
“But after last year I was frustrated with everything, so a break was what I needed.”
This time 12 months ago, Johnson looked set to continue dominating the sport, having won The Masters in November 2020 as he solidified his place at the top of the world rankings.
But the American failed to win a PGA Tour event in 2021, just the second time he has gone a calendar year without a title since 2007.
A perfect 5-0-0 record at the Ryder Cup in September was a reminder of just how good Johnson is when everything clicks, and he’ll be hoping that all facets of his game come together more often this year.
“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,” said Johnson.
“Just nothing was matching up. It just gets frustrating when you do it for eight months straight. Especially after like the fall I had the year before, it was really frustrating.”
“I’ll get more benefit, especially when it comes down towards the end of the year when we have a lot of big tournaments all in a row, the Playoffs, I’ll still feel fresh and rested.”
