CCU alum Johnson looking to cap impactful season with massive payday

It has been quite an eventful 2015 for Dustin Johnson.

The year has been perhaps the most impactful and path-changing of Johnson’s life.

Fiancée Paulina Gretzky gave birth to his first child, son Tatum, in January.

He completed and returned in February from a six-month break from the PGA Tour, during which he tackled what he termed “personal challenges” that included excessive drinking, and recorded top-six finishes in five of his first seven tournaments back, including a win in the WGC-Cadillac Championship and playoff runner-up in the Northern Trust Open.

In an eight-year pro career strewn with near-misses in major championships, Johnson was within a 12-foot putt on the 72nd hole of the U.S. Open at Chambers Bay of claiming his first major title, only to three-putt and finish a stroke behind Jordan Spieth.

What will the 31-year-old Coastal Carolina alumnus and Columbia native do as a final act this week in the season-ending Tour Championship by Coca-Cola at East Lake Golf Club?

Well, for starters he’s in position to record his largest ever payday.

“Winning at Trump Doral was good. I lost in a playoff in L.A. It was right there in the U.S. Open. It’s a good solid year,” Johnson said. “We’re not done yet, though. It would be a good cap. We’ve definitely got a good shot at it.”

“It” is a nearly $11.5 million prize for winning both the Tour Championship and FedExCup points title in one fell swoop Sunday.

It isn’t all about the money this week, but with the bulk of the $35 million in 2015 FedExCup bonuses going to the 30 players who qualified to play at East Lake, including $10 million to the FedEx winner, it’s pretty close.

An additional $8.25 million is at stake for Tour Championship results, including $1.485 million to the winner.

Johnson enters the Tour Championship seventh in FedExCup points.

Though he isn’t guaranteed the FedExCup points championship with a win this week – as the top five players in points are ensured – the scenario for Johnson to win the FedExCup is a simple one.

He needs to win the Tour Championship and have Jason Day finish no better than a three-way tie for second and Spieth finish no better than a two-way tie for second.

“If I win, then that pretty much takes care of it, I think,” Johnson said. “But even if I win and it doesn’t, it’s still alright. I’ll take the win.”

With a victory Sunday, Johnson would finish no worse than third in FedEx points – he’d finish third only if Day and Spieth tied for second – and that would secure a $2 million FedExCup bonus. Second in the Cup standings earns $3 million.

Johnson twice entered the Tour Championship second in points in 2010 and ’11 and his best FedExCup finish was fourth in 2011.

Largely because there is a points reset for the Tour Championship after the third playoff event, the winner of the Tour Championship has also won the FedExCup points race in each of the past five seasons.

Johnson enters the Tour Championship seemingly in good form. He has recorded top-10s in two of three playoff events with a tie for ninth at The Barclays and tie for seventh that included a second-round 62 last week in the BMW Championship.

“The golf game has been pretty good,” Johnson said. “It’s all about getting it in the hole. I just wasn’t making any putts. I finally made some last week on Friday. … At this stage in the game it’s all about putting. I’m going to hit bad shots, that’s fine, but I’ve got to get it in the hole. I’ve been working pretty hard on [putting] so I feel like it’s getting better.”

Johnson hit balls on the range for a couple hours Tuesday under the observation of instructor Butch Harmon, and spent additional time putting at the end of a nine-hole practice round.

Missing the 2014 Tour Championship during his break from the tour was among his regrets last year. “I missed this and the Ryder Cup, and I didn’t play in any of the playoff events, so I missed a lot of big things,” Johnson said. “But it’s good. I needed it so I’m definitely back on top of things and life’s good.”

Paulina and eight-month-old Tatum are with Johnson in Atlanta this week and much of his family will be at East Lake for the tournament rounds.

Johnson has qualified for the Tour Championship for the seventh consecutive year, and is playing in his sixth.

He finished outside the top 20 in his first three appearances at East Lake, but improved to a tie for 10th in 2012 at 1-under 279 and finish fifth in 2013 at 8-under 272.

He’s warming to the 7,307-yard par-70 layout, as 12 of his last 14 rounds at East Lake have been par or better after six of his first seven rounds at the course were over par.

“I really like the golf course,” Johnson said. “It’s a good track, it’s tough. You shoot 2 under each day you’re going to have a chance to win it on Sunday. It’s one of those courses where par is a good score on a lot of holes and there are a few birdie holes. It’s a good track.

“It’s one of those courses where you have to be on your game to play well. You can’t fake it around this place. I definitely think it’s a golf course where the more you play it you learn all the flags and where to hit it and not to hit it.”

As difficult as winning this week might be for Johnson, the greater improbability may be Day finishing third or worse. The new world No. 1 has been laying waste to his competition, winning four of his past six tournaments including the PGA Championship and two playoff events, and is 101-under par in his past seven events combined.

“He’s just playing unbelievable golf right now,” Johnson said. “He’s got everything working right now.”

Johnson, the 2015 tour leader in driving distance at 318.6 yards per drive, is ranked ninth in the Official World Golf Ranking and has 10 top-10 finishes in 20 starts this year for $5.2 million in earnings, raising his career PGA Tour earnings to $29.36 million.

He believes he’s capable of going on a run similar to Day’s some day. “Why not? For sure,” he said.

Johnson tees off at 1:30 p.m. in Thursday’s first round and is playing with Charley Hoffman. Because tee times are aligned based on FedExCup points, Johnson is in the fourth-to-last group and the six players ahead of him are teeing off in the final three groups.

When Johnson’s name is called on the first tee Thursday at East Lake, it will be announced that he is from Myrtle Beach.

Though Johnson hasn’t lived on the Grand Strand since late 2010, when he moved to Florida, his announced affiliation with Myrtle Beach at every PGA Tour event is at his request.

“I represent Myrtle Beach and Myrtle Beach Golf Holiday, and it’s a place where I’ve got a lot of roots,” Johnson said. “My golf school is there so I still have a lot of ties to the community so I use Myrtle Beach. I’m a South Carolina boy.”

This story was originally published September 23, 2015 at 4:59 PM with the headline "CCU alum Johnson looking to cap impactful season with massive payday."