It’s going to take something truly spectacular to prevent Dustin Johnson from donning the famous Masters green jacket on Sunday, writes ANDRE HUISAMEN.
The world No 1 will head into Sunday’s final round at Augusta National with a four-stroke lead having ended with the joint-highest score after 54 holes ever at the Masters on moving day.
Johnson’s consistency is slowly but surely starting to separate him from the rest of the field after he went bogey-free for the third round, which included five birdies and an eagle, and it’s fair to say the 36-year-old is booming with confidence ahead of the final hurdle.
‘The game is in really good form right now, very similar to what it was in 2017,’ said Johnson after his round on Saturday.
‘It’s just very consistent, I feel like I have got a lot of control of what I’m doing – controlling my distance well, my flight, my shape so I’m very comfortable standing over the golf ball right now.’
Of course Johnson isn’t truly getting ahead of himself just yet, having won only one Major in the past and missing out on multiple occasions from competitive positions.
But, the American appears to be striving for perfection and has gotten better and better over the course of the past three rounds, which could spell danger for his opponents come Sunday.
‘I put myself in the situation a lot of times. I know what it takes. I know how I respond in this situation. I’m very comfortable with having the lead going into tomorrow. I’ve been in this situation a lot of times. I’m looking forward to the challenge. It’s still going to be a tough day. I’m going to have to play well if I want to get it done tomorrow,’ he added.
Johnson, though, reckons if he keeps the same approach he should have enough firepower to come out on top on Sunday and isn’t going to force any unnecessary situations.
‘Right now, I feel comfortable with every part of the game. So there’s not really anything I need to work on. Tomorrow just make sure I just worry about what I’m doing, not worry about what everybody else is doing. It’s a long day. I just need to be patient out there. I feel like I’ve done a good job of that the first three rounds, and tomorrow’s going to be a lot more of the same.’
Johnson will start the final round on 16 under par with a four-shot lead over Sungjae Im, Abraham Ancer and Cameron Smith.
