NAPA, California – Dustin Johnson’s first major was only part of a dream season that culminated with the PGA Tour Player of the Year award on Tuesday.
Johnson made it a clean sweep of the tour’s biggest honors that are named after its most prominent players. He won the Jack Nicklaus Award as player of the year, the Arnold Palmer Award for leading the money list and the Byron Nelson Award for having the lowest adjusted scoring average.
“I don’t even know if I dreamed this would be happening,” Johnson said.
Johnson previously won the PGA of America’s points-based award as player of the year and the Vardon Trophy for the lowest scoring average.
The PGA Tour award is a vote of the players, and Johnson said he didn’t even vote.
That didn’t matter. While the PGA Tour does not disclose vote totals, no one could match the year Johnson had.
The 32-year-old American ended his string of disappointment in the majors by winning the US Open at Oakmont under extraordinary circumstances. Because of the USGA’s indecision over a potential rules violation, Johnson played the final seven holes not knowing if he would be penalized, and he made sure it didn’t make a difference.