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Dustin Johnson "Tiger effect"

PapaJohick

PapaJohick

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I was listening to the Par Train the other day and one of the guys came up with an interesting take that I wanted to present to yall.

Out of the really good players playing right now, they seem to think that while most (Jordan, Justin, Rory, Day, Rahm, etc) had the/an IT factor, none of them have the attitude or mentality to intimidate except for DJ.

Now they didn't say he has the same effect on the field as Tiger did from 99-2002, but they mentioned that between his length and much improved short game, they felt it was fair to say that when he was competing, there is a for sure mental edge/element that effects other players.

I feel I have to agree with them. Obviously its not the same as Tiger, but he is certainly a player who you can't really get a read on. While playing, he seems like the same guy whether he is struggling or dominating and I think that can certainly put some "fright" (probably not the best word there) into playing partners. We know Jordan, Justin, and Rahm are very emotional especially when playing bad. DJ just seems to keep on truckin and works through it.

Thoughts?

I just felt it was an interesting way to look at his playing lately. Im not saying he is better than prime Tiger or is dominating like Tiger did haha.
 
I really don't think DJ is consistent enough (or anyone else for that matter). In his time, Tiger brought it like no one else before him. Every week he intimidated with his presence in the tournament. I think DJ (mostly due to his putting) disappears too much but maybe this will change as we go forward.
 
RNG said:
I really don't think DJ is consistent enough (or anyone else for that matter). In his time, Tiger brought it like no one else before him. Every week he intimidated with his presence in the tournament. I think DJ (mostly due to his putting) disappears too much but maybe this will change as we go forward.
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I’m with you. I think if DJ went out and picked up 7/10 wins and top 5 in the other 3.... then we could start talking about Tiger effect. These guys all have game, to really get to the next level they need to turn it on and keep it turned on for multiple events over a month or two or longer.

I think that is a lot to ask of anyone right now.
 
I agree, no one has the tiger effect. But I would think DJ would be the most intimidating player going right now. When he is firing on all cylinders he is the closest to unbeatable. That being said, the opportunity for an implosion is always there.
 
Wake said:
I agree, no one has the tiger effect. But I would think DJ would be the most intimidating player going right now. When he is firing on all cylinders he is the closest to unbeatable. That being said, the opportunity for an implosion is always there.
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And that implosion is regular enough that he’s not intimidating, unless you’re watching his game then, maybe. So the guys in his group might be intimidated, but I’m doubtful of that.
 
The Tiger Effect was so unique and encompassed more than success on the golf course. His success transcended golf and IMO DJ is not even close to touching him on that level of influence.
 
Although DJ can certainly be dominating when firing on all cylinders, I don't thing anyone in that group in intimidated by his abilities. I don't believe we have seen anyone have that Tiger effect since Tiger HAD it.
 
Wake said:
I agree, no one has the tiger effect. But I would think DJ would be the most intimidating player going right now. When he is firing on all cylinders he is the closest to unbeatable. That being said, the opportunity for an implosion is always there.
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Funny thing (which the par train does well if you haven't listened to them) was that in the podcast they said something to that effect about intimidation. something (not verbatim) along the lines, nobody is going to be intimidated/mentally affected by a guy who is just steady eddy and can putt when he's in the lead or somewhere in the hunt come sunday, but playing against a guy who is constantly 15-30 yards past you and just has this stoic/cold look on his face when the pressure comes up and has become good with a wedge/putter can certainly play into the mental aspect of the game.


obviously we know that DJ has had some putting issues in big moments, although he has become much better the past season or so
 
Sox Fan said:
Although DJ can certainly be dominating when firing on all cylinders, I don't thing anyone in that group in intimidated by his abilities. I don't believe we have seen anyone have that Tiger effect since Tiger HAD it.
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definitely not. I don't think we will every see another person that had the ability to affect other players mentally like Tiger did....

like they said, people showed up knowing they were playing for 2nd haha
 
It's a big year for Golf and while DJ is head and shoulders the #1 player in the world...I don't think he has a mental edge or intimidation factor on fellow pros.

Way too much talent on the Tour now to be dominant and have that effect. A resurgent Rory(so we hope), JT/Spieth/Rahm/Rickie/Brooks/Hideki I don't think for one second feel powerless when DJ is on. Let's not forget these players have put in some fantastic rounds of golf as well. And not even mentioning the likes of Sergio/Day/etc.

It is cool how much of a gap he has made from #1 to #2, credit to him, but if these guys are in the hunt Sunday and DJ is leading they are not going into a tournament hoping to win, they expect to win.
 
I’m not sure where the correlation is between DJ and Tiger. You always knew how TW was playing, he has always been very expressive. DJ shows no emotion, not sure how that ties them together.
As we have seen over the past 5 years, we have a half dozen players that have risen to fill the void left by Tiger. I don’t think any of the top players intimidate one another or other players. Look at Koepka, he went out and took himself a US Open, never batted an eye. Too many strong solid players on tour. The Tiger effect belongs to Tiger, no one else comes close.
 
CobraX51 said:
It's a big year for Golf and while DJ is head and shoulders the #1 player in the world...I don't think he has a mental edge or intimidation factor on fellow pros.

Way too much talent on the Tour now to be dominant and have that effect. A resurgent Rory(so we hope), JT/Spieth/Rahm/Rickie/Brooks/Hideki I don't think for one second feel powerless when DJ is on. Let's not forget these players have put in some fantastic rounds of golf as well. And not even mentioning the likes of Sergio/Day/etc.

It is cool how much of a gap he has made from #1 to #2, credit to him, but if these guys are in the hunt Sunday and DJ is leading they are not going into a tournament hoping to win, they expect to win.
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I think that is one thing I really respect from DJ/find interesting. The spread between him and #2 is a decent gap (not huge though) I feel like before he became number 1, there was nobody who really separated themselves like he has. Number 1 was switching what seemed like every month or so (though I think Jason day had it for a while? not sure on the specific stats).

If he increases the gap even more in 2018 and keeps it for the whole year do you or others in the thread believe he may start getting that mental edge?
 
Tadashi70 said:
I’m not sure where the correlation is between DJ and Tiger. You always knew how TW was playing, he has always been very expressive. DJ shows no emotion, not sure how that ties them together.
As we have seen over the past 5 years, we have a half dozen players that have risen to fill the void left by Tiger. I don’t think any of the top players intimidate one another or other players. Look at Koepka, he went out and took himself a US Open, never batted an eye. Too many strong solid players on tour. The Tiger effect belongs to Tiger, no one else comes close.
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wasnt saying they are tied together. It was a comparison on mental edge and obviously Tiger is the gold standard due to what he accomplished (and hopefully will continue at some level this year). As stated in the OP, I don't think DJ is anything close to what Tiger was, but it was an interesting thought done by the team at Par Train and I somewhat agree that he is beginning to build a mental edge.
 
Sox Fan said:
Although DJ can certainly be dominating when firing on all cylinders, I don't thing anyone in that group in intimidated by his abilities. I don't believe we have seen anyone have that Tiger effect since Tiger HAD it.
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just playing devils advocate here,

You don't think that playoff between Jordan and DJ was more mental than anything once Jordan saw the drive?
 
I recall on a recent podcast (can't recall which one) when they were talking about DJ's recent win at the Sentry Championship and his win by 8 shots. Don't quote me on the following as I am going by memory but they said that of players that had won by more than 8 shots in a tournament when they were ranked #1 in the OWGR was that this was the first time for DJ. There were less than a handful of other instances involving other golfers to win by 8 when they were #1 in the OWGR. They then said that when Tiger was #1 (albeit for a significant stretch) he won by more than 8 shots on 10 separate occasions. Now that is dominance. I can see a player in a tournament being intimidated by Tiger at that time given a record like that. I thought that was an interesting stat.
 
The idea is the audio version of internet click bait.


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I think DJ can definitely be looked at as the most intimidating player in any field now, it's different than Tiger of course, but it's still there. I also think DJ is one of the only guys on tour now that can be in contention and not have his best stuff.
 
PapaJohick said:
just playing devils advocate here,

You don't think that playoff between Jordan and DJ was more mental than anything once Jordan saw the drive?
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Not at all. Jordan knows his strengths and knows he will always be hitting first when playing with DJ.
 
If he was a great putter then absolutely. But theres always that decent chance he misses a shorty when its all on the line. Tiger never missed those
 
PapaJohick said:
If he increases the gap even more in 2018 and keeps it for the whole year do you or others in the thread believe he may start getting that mental edge?
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Not at all. We've heard Pros in the past say when Tiger was in the field an/or a threat on Sunday that they were playing for 2nd place it seemed.

You will never hear any of the Top 10 or even Top 50 in the world say they are playing for 2nd place no matter how dominant DJ gets. These guys are way too confident and talented to succumb to 2nd best.

so-illhacker said:
I think DJ can definitely be looked at as the most intimidating player in any field now
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I still don't get that vibe. Rahm, Thomas, Rickie, and plenty of others have to feel they are the most intimidating player in the field.

Didn't Spieth make a comment last year saying when his name is on the Sunday leaderboard that other golfers may look twice or be a bit intimidated? Bold comment and one that you wouldn't expect from Spieth, but he has to have that mindset each and every week.

Now he did predict that DJ would be the best player in the world, and when his 2016 blew up he gave the "I told you so." But that doesn't mean these guys are intimidated of DJ at all.
 
PhillyV said:
If he was a great putter then absolutely. But theres always that decent chance he misses a shorty when its all on the line. Tiger never missed those
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Great point there


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I think there's something to it but I think it has less to do with his steely demeanor than it does his sheer talent.

It's my belief that if all on tour could play at or near their best all of the time, DJ and Rory would win most relative to others.

When a player, any player, is up against another, they're aware of capability. They know that their B game isn't going to beat the best. Whereas the best, while always striving for perfection, are still aware that they can scrape by and still win with less than their A game.

I'm sure most players either consciously or subconsciously accept this. But I don't believe it results in intimidation for most, rather I think it serves to spark more motivation.

Tiger, through talent and will, was able to beat others while hitting driver all over the park, now that got in others' heads and freaked them out some.
 
I think the 'DJ effect' does exist to a degree, particularly because he's more than just a long ball hitter. And while his get a win every season streak is impressive, I don't think he's reached Tiger level yet. Dude is a ridiculously talented golfer, but one of the key differences is his laid back attitude on the course. When Tiger was dominating, he often seemed to be playing in a-hole mode. DJ is just super nonchalant and it almost seems like he's bored by the game at times. But I do think with his skills, he certainly has the ability to intimidate other pros. Not all of them mind you, but some of them for sure.
 
He's probably the most physically gifted golfer on the planet right now and over the last 4+ years he's finally living up to potential and putting it all together.
His short game is better, his putting is getting better. I don't think these guys get intimidated but they also know who is the guy to beat, and lately it's DJ.

Since the 2014 season he's played 82 events has won 10, 43 top 10s and 59 top 25s.
 
Any player becoming truly dominant in any sport will have major impact.
Even if DJ was the most dominant in golf, he would fall well short, because of his engagement abilities though.

Whether that is fair or not, it's true.
 
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