Dustin Johnson believes he can win 9-10 tournaments in a season

Dustin Johnson won four tournaments last year, including three consecutive early in the season, and he is ready to better that return.

Published : Jan 04, 2018 12:05 IST

Dustin Johnson won four PGA Tour events last year and believes he can better the feat this year.
Dustin Johnson won four PGA Tour events last year and believes he can better the feat this year.
lightbox-info

Dustin Johnson won four PGA Tour events last year and believes he can better the feat this year.

World number one Dustin Johnson believes he can win 9 or 10 trophies in a season as he prepares for the Tournament of Champions.

Last year, American star Justin Thomas earned Player of the Year by winning five PGA Tour events, including the US PGA Championship.

Johnson claimed four, but it still seems like golf is waiting for another truly dominant season like Tiger Woods produced in the past, which featured a nine-win year in 2000.

READ: Woods targets 'full schedule' after struggling to walk during recovery

Johnson believes someone will again win that many tournaments in a season as he fronted the media on Wednesday. "I believe so. I definitely think I can," Johnson said. "Obviously I'm going to have to play very good golf.

"The guys out here, as you all know, there's a lot of really good players out here on Tour, and for me to do that I'm going to have to play some really good golf, but definitely capable of it."

Johnson appeared ready to tilt the world of golf entirely onto his axis last year, winning three straight events leading up to The Masters. Unfortunately, he suffered a freak lower back injury leading up to the year's first major championship, forcing him to miss the event.

He struggled for a while to re-gain his form, before ultimately out-duelling Jordan Spieth at the first FedEx Cup playoff event. "It took a long time to recover from it, for sure," said Johnson, who will start his week alongside breakout star Xander Schauffele on Thursday.

ALSO READ: Fowler doesn't have 'beef' with anyone on PGA Tour

"I've never really had an injury, other than I had knee surgery in 2010, maybe, I think. But that was only six weeks or something that I was down, but it didn't really affect me at all. So that was a lot different than low back where it kind of, it really affected like my rotation through the ball."

Like most long hitters, Johnson has found consistent success at The Plantation Course at Kapalua — host of this week's event. He is excited to knock the rust off at a tournament he won in 2013, and recorded a tie for sixth last year.

"This is always a great place to start the year. I enjoy coming back here," Johnson said. "I've been here the last quite a few years now, so it's a place I really enjoy coming. What's not to like about Hawaii? This golf course, it's a good golf course for me. It's big, it's pretty long, I can hit a lot of drivers, so I enjoy it."

Sign in to unlock all user benefits
  • Get notified on top games and events
  • Save stories to read later
  • Access to comment on every story
  • Sign up / manage to our newsletters with a single click
  • Get notified by email for early bird access to discounts & offers to our products
Sign in

Comments

Comments have to be in English, and in full sentences. They cannot be abusive or personal. Please abide to our community guidelines for posting your comment