Johnson became only the third player in history to win five points in a Ryder Cup match – his performance at Whistling Straits at the end of last month was magnificent – and there must be every chance that the former world number one finishes the year with a flourish.
Johnson lost his way for a few months, missing the cut when defending his Masters title, then suffering another weekend off at the US PGA Championship.
Some bright form at the end of the FedEx Cup playoffs, though, sent him to the Ryder Cup with renewed self-belief, then he starred for Steve Stricker’s American side.
Despite being the oldest member of the Yank line-up, Johnson was the only player entrusted to tee up in five matches, and the 37-year-old emphatically repaid the faith shown by Stricker.
Plenty of punters who watched the Ryder Cup will be making a beeline for Johnson as the Carolinian giant prepares for the CJ Cup at Summit Club, Las Vegas.
Featured groups for THE CJ CUP @ SUMMIT:
Louis Oosthuizen
Dustin Johnson
Presented by @ROLEX pic.twitter.com/1jqln7fMRN
— PGA TOUR (@PGATOUR) October 12, 2021
He can be backed at 10/1. Johnson has experience of practising at Shadow Creek, a nearby Vegas course where his partner’s father Wayne Gretzky plays, and is comfortable in the area.
Vegas-Based Morikawa Can Employ Local Knowledge
Collin Morikawa has an edge over his CJ Cup rivals this week – he is a Summit Club member who knows the course extremely well.
The Open champion uses Summit as his practice base – any time he is at his Vegas home feeling he needs practice holes, Summit is where he heads.
It is a significant edge and the 16/1 about Morikawa seems sure to prove a popular price when punters cotton on to his relationship with this venue.
The 24-year-old knows the best places to miss greens, he knows the contours of the putting surfaces, he will have no trouble with depth perception, and he can sleep in his own bed each night.
Given his home advantage – and the brilliant form he showed when winning three-and-a-half points on his Ryder Cup debut – it can be argued that Morikawa should be favourite this week.
McNealy Could Be an Each-Way Outsider to Follow
Another Summit Club member who will be fancying his chances of CJ Cup success is Maverick McNealy.
Reports have revealed that Morikawa once carded a 62 at the Summit, but McNealy has a round of 61 to his name.
McNealy is a 55/1 chance for CJ Cup glory – and it is asking a lot for the youngster to hold himself together and win a maiden PGA Tour title in such high-class company – but he is a former world number one amateur with bundles of ability.
If Morikawa fails to take advantage of the fact he is competing at a track he knows like the back of his hand, then McNealy could be the one to lead the field home.
With each-way terms of a quarter the odds the first five, McNealy screams value.
*All odds correct at time of writing.
