If it takes a bomber to catch a bomber, then consider Dustin Johnson in a good spot.
Johnson fired a 3-under 67 in the second round of the PGA Championship on Friday morning at Bethpage Black, putting him at 4-under for the tournament and eight shots behind his fellow long-hitter and good buddy, Brooks Koepka.
“We’re very competitive on the golf course, in the gym, whatever it is,” Johnson said. “We’re really good friends. We kind of push each other. So it’s been a lot of fun.”
Johnson went off No. 10 early in the morning and made five birdies on his first nine holes to go out in 32 — and that included missing a 11-foot par putt on No. 18. It seemed like he had a real chance to chase down the 63 that Koepka posted Thursday.
But Johnson couldn’t get anything going on his second nine holes, a birdie and a bogey to finish even on the back and still a ways off the lead.
“I wasn’t thinking anything other than the next shot I had to hit,” Johnson said when asked about matching Koepka’s first-round score. “You can get it going out here. For me, if I can drive it in the fairways, I can get it going. Just need to roll the putter.”
There were 32 putts for Johnson on the day when a lot of the pins were accessible. The only putt of length he made was a 23-footer he drained on No. 7, a good birdie on a difficult hole that was playing a little easier with the tees up and the wind helping.
But the relatively flat greens proved to be a little more complicated than first glance.
“They’re very subtle and you’re trying read break, and I missed a lot of putts just playing too much break,” Johnson said. “But then you do that, and then you go and you don’t play enough break. So they’re hard to read. And I felt like I’m hitting good putts, so I need to keep doing that.”
When it came to one of the holes Johnson would normally take advantage of, the 527-yard par-5 fourth hole, he drove it well left into the tall grass. He took relief from a sprinkler head, but was still only able to hack it out short of the green. From there, he chipped it to seven feet and missed another birdie putt, lipping out hard.
He then absolutely pounded a drive at the normally difficult fifth hole, flying 336 yards and leaving just 135 in. An approach to 17 feet was just on the front fringe, but he pushed that putt for another par.
It just was that kind of day for Johnson, who couldn’t quite make up as much ground as he would have liked. But when asked if he wanted to be battling Koepka down the stretch, Johnson didn’t hesitate.
“I mean, I hope we are,” he said. “It would be a lot of fun.”
