Former world No. 1 has disastrous quadruple bogey early in U.S. Open second round
Dustin Johnson hasn't been at his best in the majors in recent years, with just as many missed cuts as top 12s in his last 10 outings (three each) and no top fives to speak of.
When the former No. 1 player in the world wrapped up a first round at the U.S. Open with an impressive 64 to sit just two shots off the lead, optimism started to ramp up, with people believing this was his time to reclaim his spot among the sport's best at an event he's won before (2016) and finished in the top six on five occasions.
All those good feelings smacked up against a firm wall of barranca on Friday's second hole at Los Angeles Country Club, when DJ carded the dreaded snowman. It was a quadruple-bogey eight that saw him go from third on the leaderboard all the way out of the top 10 in one agonizing heartbeat.
The problems on the par 4 started with a wayward drive into a fairway bunker. From there, he was forced to lay up roughly 90 yards from the green but still found himself in the rough. That proved problematic, as his third shot came out thick and landed directly in the barranca well in front of the green.
After retrieving the ball from the ravine, he airmailed his fifth shot over the green and into the thick fringe, which gave him an ugly lie and also saw him face a brutal downhill slope to the hole.
After his chip rolled 30-plus feet past, he was actually lucky to two-putt his way to an eight. The four-shot fall took him from six under to two under and six shots off the lead.
Not the best way to start your day, especially when you had dreams of competing for a second U.S. Open trophy. He'll now have a long road ahead of him to catch the leaders.
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