Dustin Johnson after the U.S. Open

If you remember, I picked Dustin Johnson to win the U.S. Open at Pebble Beach two days before the tournament started, and Dustin had a three-shot lead over the field after three rounds. Then the press and the tournament commentators took him aside and told Dustin that he was not human if he was not shaking in his boots under those circumstances!

They convinced him on Saturday night that his calm, composed attitude was not natural, and that he was some kind of freak if he continued with that attitude. So, Dustin hit a wedge next to the second green into an unfair lie, thanks to the USGA, took a triple-bogey 7 on the hole, and Dustin could then relax and become human.

Dustin shot a closing 82, the worst finish by a leader in a U.S. Open since some unknown player shot an 83 in the final round in 1911.

How has Dustin handled "being human" since his disastrous final round at the Open?

From what I hear, he celebrated his 26th birthday on a boat, and then talked to Greg Norman about how to learn from a major disappointment. Greg has had a few major disappointments of his own, you will recall.

Then Dustin showed up at the next tournament site and ran into another recent failure on tour, Justin Rose. Justin had just choked his way from a three-shot lead at the Travelers Championship after the first three rounds to self-imploding on Sunday!

Dustin has taken the attitude, "You're not going to win every time." His final round 82 was sandwiched between two other collapses on tour. The week before the Open, Robert Garrigus had a three-shot lead going into the 18th hole, then hit his tee shot into the water, then into the trees. He made a triple-bogey and fell into a three-way tie after 72 holes. Then he was eliminated in a playoff.

Then there was Rose's collapse at the Travelers the week after the Open. Mental pressure on the PGA Tour can be hard to overcome, especially when a player is leading the Open and the press starts telling him how to think!

My advice to Dustin? The next time you are leading a major on Saturday night, go hide some place away from the tournament, and do not give interviews. Get in your own trance, think about shooting 65 on Sunday, which you should consider just another Sunday on the links.

I'm glad to see Dustin does not put all of his thoughts on golf these days. He just announced that he is getting together with a number of other tour players and buying a thoroughbred race horse that is in training at Hollywood Park! Dustin and his partners are trying to decide what to name the horse, since they don't like the horse's present name, "Bling Boy".

Dustin hopes to return from the British Open next month so he can watch his horse run at Del Mar.

How his horse performs down the stretch will be of particular interest!