Golf Question of the Week: Can Dustin Johnson Become the “Next Big Thing” on the PGA TOUR?
Move over, Camilo Villegas and Anthony Kim. It's time to make room for another, fast-rising young star on the PGA TOUR.
Coastal Carolina grad Dustin Johnson made sure of it with his win last weekend at the AT& T Pebble Beach National Pro-Am. It didn't seem to matter that rain washed away the final round; Johnson was still four shots clear of the field at that point, and playing like a man possessed.
Johnson's rise has come quickly, and on the heels of a strong Fall Series finish in 2008 that saw him win his first PGA TOUR event at Turning Stone. Few outside of golf's hardcore fans took notice at the time, given that Johnson's Turning Stone triumph occurred after completion of the FedEx Cup playoffs - and as most of golf's big names had stayed home.
Not this time, though. Pebble Beach is one of golf's premier stages, and Johnson seized the opportunity to best five of the world's top 15 players.
It's remarkable to consider that, in little more than four months' time, Johnson has:
- Gone from the fringe of a trip to Q-school to being ranked No. 45 in the Official World Golf Rankings;
- Become one of only two players currently under the age of 25 with two PGA TOUR victories (Kim is the other); and
- Now qualified for next week's Accenture Match Play Championship, The Masters in April and the U.S. Open at Bethpage in June.
So what do you think, folks? Can Dustin Johnson continue his march to become one of the TOUR's elite?
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