Dustin Johnson says no pressure ahead of Masters defence

Dustin Johnson believes he is rounding into form as he attempts to become just the fourth player to win back-to-back Masters titles.

Johnson won the Saudi International for the second time in three years in February and followed up with a top-10 finish on the PGA Tour in his next start, but has struggled to hit top form since.

The two-time major winner was knocked out of the WGC-Dell Technologies Match Play in the group stages and then made a late entry into last week’s Valero Texas Open, only to withdrawn again a few days later.

Wearing the Green Jacket at Augusta National is an experience Dustin Johnson relishes.

Jack Nicklaus, Nick Faldo and Tiger Woods are the only players to have made a successful title defence at Augusta National, but Johnson is quietly confident of being able to join that elite club.

“I think it’s getting there,” he said when asked about the state of his game. “Sometimes playing in Hawaii with a lot of wind, LA with a lot of wind, Saudi with a lot of wind, sometimes you get just a little bit off.

“I think my set-up and posture was just a little bit off which caused me to hit some funny shots, which is kind of the difference of playing really well or playing just OK. I think that was the main thing.

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“But I’ve worked on it the last couple weeks and feel like I’ve played really good in Austin tee to green. I felt like if we were playing stroke play I would have played really well, just it’s match play. Things happen.