It’s fair to say that Dustin Johnson was the best player in the game during a four-year period from 2016 to 2020.
Johnson was a fearsome competitor, with 24 PGA Tour wins to his name – only 26 golfers in the history of the game have won more.
His two crowning glories came in 2016 and 2020 when he triumphed at the US Open and The Masters respectively.
Unfortunately, his game has been on a steady decline since he joined LIV Golf in 2022.
It has even been suggested by some that Johnson is now finished contending at majors due to his lack of desire to actually get back to his best.
However, the man from Columbia, South Carolina, fired back at those claims.
Johnson said it doesn’t feel as though his game has dipped on LIV but rather that his scores haven’t matched up with his play.
The 2025 season was a real struggle for Johnson, with no wins on LIV and only two top-five finishes. He also missed the cut in three of the four major championships.
The game needs a confident Johnson back to his best and firing on all cylinders. He has been really missed since his switch to LIV.
So what can he do to turn things around?
Dustin Johnson could be a major asset for Team USA at the Ryder Cup in 2027
Despite Johnson’s underwhelming form recently, there was a feeling that the United States team was missing players like him and Brooks Koepka at Bethpage Black last week.
You know, old-fashioned ‘gunslingers’ so to speak, who strike fear into their opponents simply by drawing eye contact with them.
The 2016 US Open winner and 2020 Masters champion has a certain kind of aura about him which was seriously lacking in the US team room.
Just look at Johnson’s record at the Ryder Cup.
He went 5-0-0 at Whistling Straits in 2021 and possesses an overall record of 12 wins, nine defeats and no halves.
You can’t tell me that he wouldn’t have been more useful to the Americans at Bethpage Black than Collin Morikawa, Harris English or even Sam Burns.
That said, the onus is on Johnson to play some really good golf now and qualify for the US team from a minimal selection of events.
Bryson DeChambeau did it, so why can’t the 41-year-old LIV star?
However, Johnson has to make one change, if he is to even have a chance of playing at Adare Manor in two years’ time.
The change Dustin Johnson must make to play in the 2027 Ryder Cup
Johnson simply has to play more golf over the next two years to have a chance of being in Ireland in 2027 as part of the US team.
The two-time major champion obviously needs to play well in the eight major championships between now and then and, indeed, on LIV Golf.
However, there is another route which Johnson needs to take.
He should be playing as regularly as he can on the DP World Tour in 2026 and 2027.
If Johnson does that, he will prove that he has the hunger to return to his very best. While he might not get Ryder Cup qualifying points for the US side for any strong finishes he has on the DP World Tour, showing some strong form would undoubtedly pique the interest of whoever the next US captain is.
The American is playing in the Alfred Dunhill Championship this week, so he’s clearly up for travelling around and playing a bit more in the future.
However, the most important thing for Johnson ahead of the Ryder Cup in 2027 will be to record a few wins, on whichever tour that may be.
He needs to show some real form and make it impossible for the US captain not to pick him.
Playing as often as he can on the DP World Tour will give him a much better chance of rediscovering his best form and returning to the US Ryder Cup team in 2027.
As we all know, a Dustin Johnson at his best would be a major asset for the United States of America.
Receive exclusive golf news and updates twice a week to your mailbox
