What happened to Dustin Johnson on his practice round at Pinehurst as big course change revealed

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Dustin Johnson was nearly caught out by one of the most significant changes to Pinehurst No.2 during his practice round on Tuesday.

Much of the talk in the build-up to the third major of the year has centred around the putting surfaces, with several players admitting different tactics will be deployed to prevent their ball from trickling into Pinehurst’s runoff and waste areas.

Viktor Hovland has admitted one shot is now off the cards this week after struggling during his practice rounds. Tiger Woods was also seen being inventive around the greens upon his arrival at the North Carolina venue earlier in the week.

With Pinehurst’s greens grabbing the headlines, another change to the prestigious North Carolina course has perhaps gone under the radar.

Dustin Johnson experienced a significant change to Pinehurst No.2 firsthand

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Claude Harmon, son of Butch, has spent time on the course this week ahead and has claimed the newly planted fescue grass will make life extremely tough should the ball trickle off the fairway.

He told the Son of Butch Podcast: “We were out today, Brooks and DJ played with Phil Mickelson, and I got to pick Phil’s brain and talk to him about what he thinks about the golf course and what he thinks about how to play the golf course. “

“One of the big differences is that they have changed the areas off the fairways, they have planted a lot of fescue grass and there are a bunch of clumpy pieces of grass.”

Harmon revealed that Johnson had to contend with a giant clump of fescue on the 14th hole after missing the fairway by just a yard.

He added: “So DJ today on the 14th hit the ball a yard and a half left of the fairway, and it nestled down behind a giant clump of fescue; he somehow managed to get it on the putting surface, but it could have gone anywhere, and it wasn’t even two yards from the fairway.

“I think the strategy off the tee is going to be very important, and I think which strategy the players employ will define this US Open.”

Pinehurst looks set to test all aspects this week

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It feels like Pinehurst is ready to test all aspects this week. Whoever wins the 2024 U.S. Open will need an all-round game, and missing fairways will be fatal.

Playing out of the fescue and waste areas will make it almost impossible to hit greens in regulation consistently.

And with slopes and grain set to play a part on the putting surfaces, missed greens will see shots lost very quickly.

Looking to make pars and move on to the next hole feels like the right strategy this week; birdies feel like they will come at a premium on this testing U.S. Open set-up.