Johnson, Garcia hope to put major demons to rest at Oakmont

By now, Dustin Johnson and Sergio Garcia are familiar with the questions and criticisms surrounding their respective careers.

The ones asking them about what how damning the lack of a major championship is to their legacy, a strange inquiry for two golfers who have yet to turn 40. The ones shaming them for those shortcomings, pinning those losses on supposed flaws that emerge in a tournament’s most crucial moments.

It’s the kind of chatter that, unfair as it may seem, has followed each golfer much of their careers. For all the talent they possess, they, for whatever reason, can’t win the big one despite often being in contention to do so.

Through two rounds at the U.S. Open at Oakmont Country Club, Johnson and Garcia sit near the top of the leader board with scores of 4 under and 2 under, putting them in ties for first and fourth place, respectively. It’s a position in which they’ve been many times before, including at previous U.S. Opens, only to fall short. Skepticism will continue, but Friday, the playing partners fit in a 36-hole marathon that has given each of them reason to believe now might be their time.

Gerry Dulac looks back on the second day of action at Oakmont. (Video by Matt Freed)

“I don’t know how much I would think about it, but it’s all about just putting myself in position, giving myself a chance to win on Sunday coming down the back nine,” Johnson said of how winning a major could alter his career. “Obviously, it does all kinds of things for you.”

Being followed throughout the day by hockey legend Wayne Gretzky — the father of his fiancee, Paulina — Johnson rose to where he was Friday by playing a style that’s unmistakably his.

Known as one of the PGA Tour’s biggest hitters, his average drive was 318.8 yards, second among all players, often putting him in advantageous positions. He avoided the kind of disastrous hole Oakmont leeches from even the best golfers, finishing the day with just a single bogey. Johnson, however, missed several makeable birdie putts, near-makes that, even on Oakmont’s fast-as-glass greens, could prove to be costly in his quest for that elusive major.

Johnson’s agonizing losses at majors in recent years have been well-documented. With each occurrence, they cast further doubt on his ability to win one of golf’s major events.

There was the 2010 U.S. Open, when he shot an 82 in the final round after entering it with a three-stroke lead. Two months later, he lost the PGA Championship despite leading by a shot going into the final hole, drawing a two-stroke penalty for grounding his club in a bunker to miss out on a playoff.

Then, most painfully, there was the U.S. Open a year ago at Chambers Bay, when he missed a 12-foot eagle putt to win and then, shockingly, missed a 3-foot birdie putt that would have forced an 18-hole playoff with Jordan Spieth.

“What happened last year?” Johnson deadpanned when asked if that ending still weighs on him.

Garcia, too, has his own history of harrowingly close major finishes, having placed in the top 10 20 times and been the runner-up four times in such tournaments.

His round was more erratic than Johnson’s, with six bogeys counteracted by eight birdies. But that up-and-down showing still had him in an enviable spot by sundown.

“Even though I’ve had stretches where I didn’t hit the ball that great, I stuck with it,” Garcia said. “My short game was really good, I chipped well and I played well. That was important, and I’m going to need more of that throughout the weekend.”

After the taxing and sun-baked grind of two full rounds in a single day, he and Johnson will return today with a reduced workload.

With that, though, comes a great burden that has remained unmistakably hefty for years.

Craig Meyer: cmeyer@post-gazette.com and Twitter @CraigMeyerPG.