A buddy of mine sent me a screen shot of Dustin Johnson’s scorecard on Friday of the Northern Trust Open. 11 under through 11 holes. I immediately turned the TV on to see a small graphic on the bottom right hand of the screen displaying #59 watch. At that pace, he was going to shoot in the mid 50s, let alone a 59. But then I thought about how nervous DJ would be as neared the 18th hole, and the possibility of going that low became a reality. DJ might tell you a different story, and I can’t read minds, but I would bet money he felt some nerves.
To those that don’t know much about golf, shooting a 59 can be equated to pitching a perfect game or a no hitter in baseball. It happens maybe once or twice a season and is a highly coveted and respected achievement.
It is human nature to get nervous when you are trying to accomplish something of significance that you have never done before. For Dustin Johnson, that was shooting a sub 60 score in a tour event. While has won 22 PGA tour events, including 1 major, he clearly got tight on the final stretch on Friday. At the time of being 11 under, DJ was 5 clear of the field for the tournament, so he was firmly in command in first place (and theoretically shouldn’t have been nervous about anything). And yet, the prospect of shooting a sub 60 round led him to close with 8 straight pars to finish with a “disappointing” 60. I found it interesting that none of the announcers made any mention of his potential nervousness. It was as if a player like DJ, who projects an aura of cool at all times, should have no problem cruising to a 59 on a ho hum Friday at a ho hum week on the PGA Tour. Laying up on his 2nd shot on the par 5 18th hole from 215 yards should have been one indication that he wasn’t feeling confident.
Nevertheless, DJ followed up that 60 with a 63 on Sunday to shoot 30 under for the tournament, one stroke shy of the PGA tour record over 4 rounds, and winning by a landslide 11 shots.
I look back on the times when I had a chance to break 100,90,80,70 for the first time. Every single time, without fail, when I had a real chance to break through one of those plateaus, I could feel the butterflies in my stomach. And while I’ve never even come close to shooting a 59, DJ fundamentally felt the same nervousness that I did coming down the stretch on Friday. There’s no doubt DJ is an athletic freak, and I was certainly pulling for him, but I take comfort in the fact that the pros are still human (barely).
5 Foote Gimme 