Dustin Johnson trying to change the chorus in his major medley

Dustin Johnson had been close several times before, but never closer to a major championship than the 12 feet of bumpy downhill green that stood between his ball and the cup on the final hole of last year’s U.S. Open at Chambers Bay.

The eagle putt would have given Johnson a one-stroke victory, his first major championship and the crescendo of his now nine-year pro career.

But it slid about 4 feet past the hole and he missed the birdie putt that would have still afforded him 18 holes the next day to defeat Jordan Spieth in a playoff.

So the Coastal Carolina alumnus, who had already been saddled with a reputation for being unable to close out majors, had that refrain become only louder.

It remains the chorus of his career entering the 116th U.S. Open at Oakmont (Pa.) Country Club, which tees off Thursday.

The seemingly carefree Johnson has repeatedly shown an ability to quickly move past disappointments, and says he is unaffected and even oblivious to it – other than the consistent line of questioning.

“I don't really read the media, so I didn't even know. So that's how I block it out,” Johnson said Wednesday during a press conference at Oakmont.

Knowing he needed at least a birdie on the long par-5 18th hole at Chambers Bay, Johnson’s eagle putt was preceded by a precise 350-yard drive and 5-iron from 247 yards.

“I feel like my game, in those situations, has held up just fine the past few times I've been in this situation,” Johnson said. “So that's all I'm trying to do is just give myself a chance on the back nine on Sunday.”

The three-putt on the 18th hole came on the bumpy and inconsistent greens that were considered the worst of any venue on the PGA Tour last year. Oakmont’s famously slick, crowned and nearly perfect greens shouldn’t negatively factor into any missed putts with the tournament on the line this year.

“I feel like I handled that situation good,” Johnson said. “It wasn't like I hit bad shots or did anything. Unfortunately, the greens weren't as smooth as they could have been. This week, you don't have to worry about that. If I miss a putt, then I can blame myself, not the greens, which I like.”

World No. 1 Jason Day was paired with Johnson in the final round at Chambers Bay, and putted out to give Johnson the opportunity to hole his putt and celebrate unfettered.

“I honestly thought, ‘He's going to hole this putt and the crowd's going to go nuts,’ and obviously it didn't work out that way for Dustin,” Day said. “But I honestly felt like he should have won that event. I think if it went to 18 holes on Monday, it would have been a very exciting match between Jordan and Dustin. I don't know who would have won, but it would have been exciting.”

Johnson knows how to win. He’s won nine PGA Tour events including at least one in each of his eight years on the tour, and he’s the sixth-ranked player in the world.

“The only thing is he hasn’t won a major yet and that’s what everyone’s talking about now,” Day said. “To be honest I don’t think he cares about it. I think he’s in his own little world where he likes to go out and enjoy his off time and then come back out and play golf and sometimes obliterate the field.”

Since Chambers Bay, Johnson has recorded another pair of top-10s in majors, giving him 11 top-10s in 28 career majors.

He tied for seventh in the PGA Championship at Whistling Straits after opening the final round with a quadruple bogey, and tied for fourth in the Masters in April after being within a couple strokes of the lead while carding five birdies between the sixth and 15th holes in a final round of 71.

But Johnson double bogeyed the 17th hole to end his chances, and impressive shot-making wasn’t fully rewarded when Johnson missed eagle putts of 12, 13 and 20 feet, and birdie putts of 4, 8, 12 and 15 feet on Augusta National’s challenging greens.

“It was impressive to watch,” said Day, who was also paired with Johnson in the final round at Augusta. “He just didn’t quite have it on the greens that day, but sometimes you just don’t have it. When he does have it he’s going to mix impressive ball-striking with a good day on the greens, then he’ll cruise to a finish. He’ll win a major by plenty.”

Johnson’s near-misses in majors have sometimes been painful.

His runner-up finishes in the 2011 British Open and last year's U.S. Open, and ties for eighth in the 2010 U.S. Open and fifth in the 2010 PGA Championship all came with him in position to win in the final round.

There was a long iron hit out of bounds on the back nine in the 2011 British, an 82 with a lead entering the final round of the 2010 U.S. Open, and a two-shot penalty for hitting out of a poorly-marked bunker on the final hole that cost him a spot in a playoff in the 2010 PGA.

He’s been playing well this year despite not winning. Johnson has finished in the top five in six of his past nine tournaments, including the past two, and is coming off a 63 Sunday in the final round of the FedEx St. Jude Classic.

He ranks third on tour this year in shots gained tee-to-green, but only 105th in shots gained around the green. And putting will be paramount this week at Oakmont.

“I'm always comfortable with [putting], the ball just doesn't always go in the hole,” Johnson said. “But I've been working on it the past few weeks, so I feel like it's getting better, getting some more confidence in it. Just keep hitting good shots and giving myself looks, and they'll start to go in.”

Johnson played Oakmont for the first time last Tuesday. “I really like the golf course. I enjoy playing it,” Johnson said. “It's just tough, but I like hard golf courses. I think they suit my game very well. … It's going to reward good golf shots, but if you get out of position, it's going to be very difficult.”

Johnson turns 32 Wednesday, so if his first major championship doesn’t come this week, he should have plenty of additional chances. “The guys out here, they keep getting younger and younger, and I keep getting older. But I still feel young,” Johnson said.

He is trying to rewrite the same old chorus this week. “Obviously, it does all kinds of things for you,” Johnson said of winning a major.

“It will happen soon with Dustin,” said Spieth, a two-time major champion who had his own heartbreaking stumble at this year’s Masters. “If you take a poll of tour players, they believe he'll win the major in the next couple years. I would say well over half of them will believe that.”

This story was originally published June 16, 2016 at 3:23 PM with the headline "Dustin Johnson trying to change the chorus in his major medley."