Doug Mills/The New York Times
AUGUSTA, Ga. — For 10 years, Dustin Johnson’s chase for career-defining, major championship titles was tinged with ruthless angst, misfortune and calamitous setbacks.
He grounded a club in an unobserved bunker at the 2010 P.G.A. Championship to earn a heartless penalty that bounced him from a playoff for the victory. Five years later, at the United States Open, a three-putt on the final hole cost him another major championship playoff berth. Riding a hot streak that made him the prohibitive favorite at the Masters three years ago, Johnson slipped on the stairs at his rental house on the tournament’s eve and withdrew with a back injury.