Different Strokes: Dustin Johnson back on song at just the right time

The DJ is back spinning the tunes, just like the old days before he was the star turn in defecting from the PGA Tour to LIV Golf.

Dustin Johnson, former world number one, overcame a triple bogey in his final round of the LIV event in Tulsa to birdie the closing hole and then overcome Cameron Smith and Branden Grace in a playoff with another birdie on the 18th for his first win of the year on the breakaway tour.

DJ was out of tune with a triple bogey on the 10th, where he found water on the short hole. “Everything I could do wrong, I did wrong on the hole. To fight back and birdie 18 two times in a row when I had to, I’m happy with that,” said Johnson, who was especially pleased with the timing of his resurgence just before the PGA.

“I’m playing really well,” said Johnson, a two-time major champion who is seeking to add the PGA to his US Open (2016) and Masters (2020).

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Ronan Mullarney’s Alpine high

Ronan Mullarney has already tasted playing at a Major championship – having qualified for last year’s historic 150th Open at St Andrews – and, although the Gosser Open on the developmental Alps Tour might pale purse-wise in comparison, the Galwayman’s breakthrough win in Austria is a hugely important step on the professional ladder.

While the winner of this week’s US PGA at Oak Hill will pocket close to $3million (€2.76 million), Mullarney’s reward for impressively winning the weather-shortened tournament in Austria was €5,800, which nevertheless had the importance of moving him to second in the current season’s Order of Merit, with prized Challenge Tour cards to play for.

Small stepping stones and all that in the 27 year old’s fledgling professional career, but Mullarney has moved to a career high 1,440th in the updated world rankings, marking further progress on his journey: “It was a difficult 36 holes, trying to keep the umbrella up and down and keeping my bag as dry as possible, a lot of things happening on top of the golf that had to be played. No one likes playing in these conditions but I might have slightly more experience than [others]. I’m delighted to have won but it won’t mean a lot to me unless I’m able to end the season in the top five.”

By the Numbers: 20

In an important throwback to its origins, the US PGA continues to reserve places in the field for club professionals. So it is that 20 club professionals from around the United States will compete with the elite tour professionals in the 156-player field at this week’s championship at Oak Hill in Rochester, upstate New York. The 20 players earned their spots through their finishing places in the PGA Professional Championship, which was won earlier this month by Braden Shattuck, the club professional at Glen Mills in Pennsylvania.

Word of Mouth

“I’ve put so much hard work into my game the last few months, and it’s been trending really well. I just couldn’t get over the line last year, so it’s been a while since I’ve been in the winner’s circle. I’m proud of myself just to get it done” – Brendan Lawlor after winning the inaugural G4D Open, run by the R&A, at Woburn. The victory moved the Dundalk man back to the top of the world rankings for golfers with disability.

On this day: May 16th, 1982

At the age of 42, Jack Nicklaus claimed his 71st career win on the PGA Tour when he won the Colonial Invitation for the first time . . . after rounds of 66-70-70-67 for a total of seven-under-par 273 gave him a three-strokes winning margin over Andy North. It marked his first win on tour in two years.

“Since early this year, I’ve been saying I’ve been playing well, even though I haven’t been hitting the ball well. The feeling to have won again is a nice feeling. When they get far apart, you sometimes forget how long it is. But when you’re playing well with no results, then people ask, ‘What’s he saying? Look at the scoreboard.’ Being able to play well and win the tournament puts to rest the doubts of how you’re judging yourself,” said the Golden Bear.

In the Bag

Jason Day - Byron Nelson Classic

Driver: Ping G410 (10.5 degrees)

Fairway Wood: TaylorMade SIM Max (15 degrees)

Irons: TaylorMade P770 (2), TaylorMade P-7MC (3-PW)

Wedges: Titleist SM9 (52, 56, 60), and Titleist Vokey WedgeWorks prototype (60)

Putter: TaylorMade Itsy Bitsy Spider Tour Limited Red

Ball: Bridgestone Tour B X

Twitter Twaddle

First Mother’s Day I love these 2 so much. I’m treating them to a flight to Rochester, NY. It’s like breakfast in bed but instead of that we’re in the sky and there’s no bed and we’re with a bunch of strangers, just how she always imagined this day would go – Max Homa of course, en route to the PGA Championship.

Not a lot of highlights today. Shot 71 for 15 under, tied 5th well done @stevestricker – Pádraig Harrington tipping the cap to Steve Stricker on his latest senior major win in the Heritage. Harrington moves on to this week’s US PGA at Oak Hill, where he is one of four Irish players in the field alongside Rory McIlroy, Shane Lowry and Séamus Power.

Just not finishing off my rounds that well at the moment. Frustrating. Still, all you hackers out there often start the round sh*t too, so must focus on the positives – Eddie Pepperell feeling the pain of the ordinary golfer playing badly.

Know the Rules

Q While searching for his ball in a pile of leaves, a player accidentally kicked his ball and several of the leaves around the ball. The player estimated where the ball originally lay and he replaced it at that spot, but did not replace the leaves before making his next stroke. What is the decision?

A There is no penalty. This is covered under Rule 7.4 and Clarification 7.4/1, which determines there is no penalty for accidentally moving the ball while trying to find it. When replacing the ball, the player is not required to replace the loose impediment.