Dustin Johnson left ‘frustrated’ at PGA Championship

Doug Mattushek

Dustin Johnson is seven shots behind friend and fellow American Brooks Koepka as the PGA Championship heads in to Sunday.

The world number one earned that mantle from playing sublime golf for the better part of 24 months. In fact, Johnson has three top ten finishes in his last five major starts and he’s heading for another on Sunday, barring a calamity.

As such, you’d be forgiven for thinking he should be a front-runner come Sunday at a major. Only this time around, despite being tied for second on the leaderboard, he isn’t.

Johnson and Koepka’s friendship has been widely documented, with Koepka walking in Johnson’s shadow for much of that. There was a time when Johnson was a major winner and Koepka was just an also-ran with a world ranking in the 20’s.

But fast-forward three years and Koepka looks set to notch up his fourth major title on Sunday. When Johnson was asked for an opinion on his buddy, the response was icy to say the least.

“He’s a good player….I see a lot of myself,” he told Sports Illustrated, adding that they would “probably not” be in the gym together on Sunday.

Perhaps this a reflection of a changing dynamic between the two, or just a frustrated Johnson ruing missed chances this week.

“A little frustrated sometimes,” he continued.

“Just because I’ve had quite a few chances and I’ve felt like a few of them I played well. But that’s just how it is. It’s hard to win majors. If it was easy, a lot of guys would have a lot more than they do.”