Perhaps it's a good thing Dustin Johnson doesn't appear to spend too much time ruminating on his major failings. If he did, he'd surely go insane trying to figure out why it is he can play so well early, and so poorly late.
Johnson entered this year's PGA Championship at Whistling Straits as one of the key topics of conversation, in large part because of what he did, and didn't do, the last time a major rolled through these parts. Back then, in 2010, a two-stroke penalty for grounding his club in one of Whistling Straits' thousand-plus bunkers cost Johnson a chance at a playoff and his first major.
This week, amid all the talk and all the questions and all the very conspicuous local-rules postings, all Johnson did was fire a 66 to start Thursday, good enough for a one-stroke lead over David Lingmerth. Johnson enjoyed the benefit of good weather, and with winds whipping up later in the afternoon, his total could well hold up overnight.
If so, that would mean Johnson has held at least a share of the lead in four of the 13 major rounds held this year. Worth noting, though: none of those rounds was a final one. Johnson infamously two-putted away the U.S. Open in June, then saw a three-stroke lead at St. Andrews evaporate in disastrous high winds.
Look, we can mock the guy all weekend long for failing to come through in majors. But as Tiger Woods has shown, it's pretty easy to play yourself out of a major on Thursday. At least DJ is guaranteeing himself a spot in the weekend.
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