Dustin Johnson sure is getting a lot of attention this week as he is preparing to play in his third Masters Tournament. He is not only gracing the cover of two golf magazines this week -- GolfWorld and SI Golf Plus -- he's also the subject of an ESPN Sports Science segment. The segments will appear across all ESPN programming from the Tournament and analyzes the swings of Johnson and Bubba Watson, two of the longest drivers in pro golf.
The segment shows the differences in their swings but demonstrates that off the tee, their clubhead speed of 120 mph is 25 percent faster than the average hobby golfer. With ball contact of only half of a millisecond, the two pros generate 3,000 pounds of force, sending the ball away at 180 mph for average drives of more than 300 yards. Johnson has reached 190 mph as well.
The Sports Science featuring Johnson is one of three based on golf during Masters week. Another ESPN segment examines what makes the 9th hole on Augusta’s Par 3 course more prone to producing holes-in-one during the Masters Par 3 Contest, which airs Wednesday, April 6, at 3 p.m. on ESPN, ESPN 3D and ESPN3.com. The third segment focuses on the science that makes putts “lip out.”
With the attention has come praise. In Golf World he’s deemed: “The Natural: Why long-hitting Dustin Johnson is the best American golfer to come along since you-know-who,” and the SI Golf Plus cover states: “Pure & Simple: Unequaled, Unfettered Dustin Johnson.”
He’s also prevalent in advertising in the magazines, taking up the center spread in Golf World with an add for adidas clothing and footwear stating: “Be Greater”.
This is all less than four years removed from the 26-year-old's senior season at Coastal Carolina.
