(Editor’s note: This is Part V in a seven-part series on the life and career of reigning Masters champion Dustin Johnson. Check back to Golfweek.com each day for the next part of the story.)
Dustin Johnson wasn’t looking for a new caddie when he found the perfect bagman in the Land Down Under: his younger brother, Austin.
“He knows me better than anyone,” Dustin said. “And I can trust my brother 100 percent. Besides myself, no one wants me to win more than him. It’s cool to have that trust and that type of relationship out there with me.”
While Johnson turned pro in 2007, it wasn’t until the fall of 2013 that Johnson & Johnson became a team. The Johnsons were on a working vacation in Australia and Dustin’s fiancée, Paulina Gretzky, suggested that Austin take up the role of caddie for the Perth International. So Austin caddied for the first time and Johnson tied for 12th.
After a week of R&R, they headed to China for the World Golf Championships-HSBC Champions. Johnson decided against flying out his regular caddie, Bobby Brown, and rolled to victory in Shanghai with Austin.
“He’s been on the bag ever since,” Johnson said.
The two have been running mates now for more than 30 years. While Dustin, 36, is three years older, they were rarely separated on the fields of play growing up. Both were outstanding athletes and fell in love with golf when their father, Scott, a club pro, took them to golf courses and driving ranges on a daily basis during the summer, where the two would spend most every minute of daylight and then sometimes even after nightfall hitting golf balls.
Dustin Johnson, left, and his little brother Austin. (Photo courtesy of Johnson family)
“It was pretty normal, the older brother, younger brother relationship,” Dustin said. “We hung out a lot when we were younger. He was a pretty good athlete but I always beat up on him playing sports because I was bigger.”
Austin wouldn’t have wanted it any other way.
“I guess not all brothers are close, but we’ve always been close,” he said. “We fought like crazy when we were growing up. You could always tell he was way better than all the kids in our area. I was one of the best golfers in my age so it didn’t bother me with him being better than me. It drove me more than anything.”
Colt Knost, who won the 2007 U.S. Amateur and was Dustin’s roommate throughout much of his latter days in amateur golf and his first year as a pro, said the two Johnsons are a perfect match – calm, collected and chill personified.
“Dustin doesn’t need a guy that’s going to jump on him or be intense,” Knost said. “They’re both just like, ‘All right, no big deal, we made a bogey.’”
To Joey Diovisalvi, DJ’s trainer, the two are basically one.
“AJ has an amazingly high golf IQ,” he said. “AJ has this unbelievable sense of commitment to Dustin and himself, where he takes this sense of pride in everything he does on the golf course. As does DJ.
“There is a camaraderie that exists between the two that is sort of an unbreakable bond. They’ve gotten into it a few times but the uniqueness of both of them is they know how to move on from that.”
The caddie switch, however, was met with criticism. The thinking was that the change from an experienced caddie made no sense for the carefree Johnson, whose mishaps on the golf course had started to pile up. He needed a steadying, veteran influence, it was said and written.
But DJ does what DJ does. And the two have teamed for 18 titles, including major triumphs at the 2016 U.S. Open and 2020 Masters.
“I definitely heard all the noise about it being a bad decision, so I just put my head down, forgot the noise and accepted the highs and lows and went to work,” Austin said. “And I knew Dustin had my back.”
Dustin Johnson, left, and his brother Austin. (Photo courtesy of Johnson family)
AJ became a sponge during practice and tournament rounds, gathering up as much information by watching his new caddie colleagues such as Joe LaCava, Jim “Bones” Mackay, John Wood, Scott Vail, Mike “Fluff” Cowan and Mark Fulcher.
“I just learned from the best,” Austin said.
And became one of the best.
“Conservatively, he’s tied for the best on the PGA Tour and he very well may be the best at reading greens,” Mackay said. “That’s a huge thing. It’s so obvious that Dustin relies on him a tremendous amount. Dustin is winning more and he looks way more comfortable doing it with his brother out there.”
Austin has done much more than just read greens. Along with a few others, Austin convinced Dustin to work harder on his wedge play and his older brother found the light in 2016 when he discovered TrackMan, a launch monitor that delivers precise analytics for ball seed, spin rate, carry distance and much more.
“When he first got out there, he was always aggressive, hitting driver on every hole and going for every par 5 in two no matter what,” Austin said. “He didn’t really work on his weaknesses.
“I don’t want to take credit for it but when I got on the bag, I looked at the stats and he was the best driver in the game but he was driving it into his weakness – the wedges. So he started working on his weakness. And he’s gone from back of the pack to middle of the pack and toward the front of the pack with his wedges.
“Now we have a putting system and that’s been working. Now he has a chance to win every week. It’s not rocket science. It’s pretty simple. Attack your weakness.”
The two both say their relationship has strengthened since Austin started carrying the bag and won’t fade anytime soon.
“Our relationship is stronger than when we were kids,” Dustin said. “Having my brother on the bag has been incredible. Just to experience all these experiences with him, to travel the world with him, we play golf all the time, it’s just been really cool to spend so much time with him.
“He’s my best friend and he’s become one of the best caddies on Tour.”