Dustin Johnson obeys orders to surge into Abu Dhabi HSBC Championship contention

After a sluggish first half of the tournament, a good sleep and a change of putter was all that was needed to get Dustin Johnson in contention at Abu Dhabi Golf Club.

Dustin Johnson surged up the leaderboard after shooting a third round 64 at the Abu Dhabi HSBC Championship. David Cannon / Getty Images

ABU DHABI // The merits of a good golf coach are never really in doubt, but they received some reinforcement anyway at the Abu Dhabi HSBC Championship on Saturday.

Dustin Johnson, the world No 3 who is making his Middle East debut this week, had not exactly lived up to his star billing during the first two rounds and, as such, began the day eight shots behind leader Martin Kaymer.

Good job he has Claude Harmon in the corner, then. A fellow American, he so happens to be one of the best coaches in the business, a by-product in part of his revered family lineage in the teaching profession.

Turns out a little pep talk before Saturday’s round did the trick. Apparently, Harmon told Johnson to go out and shoot 64, and his pupil dutifully obliged, reeling off six birdies and even throwing in an eagle for good measure.

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By the time he concluded his day’s work, Johnson had joined Kaymer at the top of the leaderboard on 12-under. At the conclusion of Saturday’s play, the American is just one shot behind leader Tyrrell Hatton. How’s that for effective instruction?

“Well, we’ll see about that,” said Johnson when it was suggested he should listen to Harmon more often. “But yeah, I did go out and shoot 64. It was a great day today and hopefully we’ll just roll that over into tomorrow.”

To be fair, there were other factors in Johnson’s renaissance. The reigning US Open champion admitted to suffering from jet-lag earlier this week on his first visit to the UAE, while on Thursday he struggled with a new putter. So a decent nap, and a return to an old putter, a change made on Friday, appeared to have worked wonders.

“Yeah, finally, I got a good night’s sleep,” Johnson said. “I even got up and went to the gym this morning before I teed off. Definitely by far the best day I’ve been feeling out on the golf course.

“Just felt the swing, my body, was moving a lot better. I swung it a lot better, especially with the driver. Rolled the putter well and had a lot of chances out there. Played really solid.”

“Solid” could have been “spectacular” had he taken advantage of the par-5s. One of the longest hitters in golf, Johnson has played 12 this week, but uncharacteristically, has not birdied even one — although he did eagle the eighth. He came as close as he could to one before that as well, but his third shot on the second hole struck the flag and rolled back so far that he could not convert the succeeding putt. Hence, still no birdies on the par-5s.

“It’s been a while,” Johnson said, trying to recall the last time it had happened. “But you know, I feel like I’ve given myself some good looks. Hit the flag on two with a wedge shot. Just haven’t really holed anything on the par 5s.”

Nevertheless, he is right back in the hunt for the Falcon Trophy heading into Sunday.

“Well, especially I started eight shots behind,” Johnson said. “So I knew I had to post a really good score today and I’m going to have to shoot another really good score tomorrow if I want any chance to win this tournament.”

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