It is hard to believe now, but Dustin Johnson, the world No. 1 golfer, was once a wide-eyed PGA Tour rookie. Johnson was 23 when he earned his PGA Tour card for the 2008 season.
Asked about meeting Tiger Woods for the first time that year, Johnson also throws in a good story about Ernie Els.
"It was pretty cool," Johnson says of his first Woods encounter. "It was somebody who I've looked up to playing for a long time.
"I still remember the first golf tournament that I played -- the Sony Open -- when I was a PGA Tour member. Stepping on the range, and I think Ernie [Els] walked up and was hitting balls beside me, when I was warming up, and I had to like double-take a few times, just to be like, 'Is this real? Am I really sitting here, hitting balls next to Ernie?' But that was a long time ago. Now, I'm buddies with all of the guys and they're friends of mine, but there are still a lot of guys though, that I grew up watching, playing and still get to play with, so that's pretty cool."
Late in that 2008 season, Johnson won the Turning Stone Resort Championship at Atunyote Golf Club for his first PGA Tour victory. Johnson has won at least one tournament in all 10 of his PGA Tour seasons, making him one of only three players to accomplish such a feat. Jack Nicklaus (17 seasons) and Woods (14 seasons) are the other two.
Johnson spoke to ThePostGame last month while promoting Adidas Golf's new adicross line. The gear is designed to fit a golfer on and off the course.
.@DJohnsonPGA is helping @adidasGolf promote #adicross (but don't tell them about the extra clothes he took during the photoshoot ). pic.twitter.com/HyIrRn3OGe
— ThePostGame (@ThePostGame) November 28, 2017
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