Notebook: Johnson buoyed by suppport from fellow pros, Captain Pavin

PARAMUS, N.J. -- You knew the question would be asked. Had Dustin Johnson read the rules for The Barclays this week?

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"No," the lanky 26-year-old said with a sheepish grin, then adding as the laughter died down. "I might do that."

Johnson cost himself a spot in the playoff at the PGA Championship because he didn't know the local rule that all the sandy areas at Whistling Straits built as bunkers -- an estimated 1,000 inside and outside the ropes -- were to be played as hazards that week.

When his drive strayed right onto a sandy patch on a hillside that had been trampled down by the abundant fans on the 18th hole that Sunday, Johnson had no idea he was in a bunker. The fans were too close, and he never saw the larger outline of the hazard -- nor, he would later say, did he know the rule.

Johnson was leading by one shot at the time. But he incurred a two-stroke penalty when he ground his club in the hazard before he hit his approach. Martin Kaymer went on to beat Bubba Watson in the playoff as Johnson dealt with the frustration.

The disappointment was Johnson's second in the last three majors. He had taken a three-stroke lead into the final round of the U.S. Open only to see it evaporate in the first two holes. He eventually tied for eighth.

Johnson was lauded for the professional manner in which he handled each setback. And conversely, he was buoyed by the support he got from fellow pros like his Ryder Cup Captain Corey Pavin and frequent practice round partner Phil Mickelson, as well as legions of golf fans.

"Anytime you get the response like I did after that, it definitely helps everything," Johnson said. "But I try to always handle myself like that. And I think I do a very good job of it.

"... There's nothing that I can really get down on myself about that week, because I did everything that I wanted to do. I had a chance to win coming down the stretch on Sunday. I played well coming down the stretch.

"I was very patient, which I talked about all week I need to be patient. And things that I didn't do in the U.S. Open I did that week. I took things from the U.S. Open and used them during the final round of the PGA and it worked.

"And I was there with a chance to win."

Streelman

FAMILY HISTORY: Kevin Streelman was the sentimental favorite two years ago when The Barclays was first played at Ridgewood Country Club.

His parents had grown up in a neighborhood near the A.W. Tillinghast design, and his grandparents are buried in a cemetery adjacent to the seventh hole. A storybook ending nearly came to pass, too, as Streelman took a one-stroke lead into the final round before finishing one stroke out of the playoff won by Vijay Singh.

This year Streelman returns to The Barclays again ranked 102nd as the PGA TOUR Playoffs for the FedExCup begin. But Ridgewood isn't the only course in the rotation for which Streelman has an affinity.

The Duke grad has his sights set on the third Playoffs event -- the BMW Championship, which is played at Cog Hill Country Club in the Chicago suburb of Lemont. Streelman grew up near there and took golf lesson from Dr. Jim Suttie at the learning center there.

"(It's) just a course I know very well," said Streelman, who needs to climb into the top 70 to have a shot at playing in the BMW Championship. "I have tons of friends and family there. So the goal is attainable for me right now. But once again, you can't look too far ahead.

"You have to take a shot at a time and keep a good attitude and play good golf. I'm in a good position to do that. I'm just going to have a good time."

NEW COACH: The weekend before the Wyndham Championship, Streelman started working with his former coach, Alasdair Dyer, who teaches out of Barefoot Resort in North Myrtle Beach, S.C.

The results were almost immediate as Streelman opened with rounds of 64-65 -- the first time he' d broken 70 in consecutive rounds since the Travelers Championship seven starts earlier. He went on to tie for 18th.

"We spent three days at home in Chicago where I grew up before leaving for North Carolina and just kind of tightened things up," Streelman said. "It feels really good tight now."

Streelman said the decision to go back to Dyer was a "gut" feeling.

He actually liked the things he had been working on with his new instructor, but the results weren't there. And he decided right before the Playoffs might not be the right time to make changes.

"Maybe in the offseason I'll discuss some more things with him and what I want to accomplish with my swing," Streelman said. "But right now I feel comfortable where it is. I'm hitting the ball where I want to."

Slocum

BRINGING CONFIDENCE TO NEW COURSE: Heath Slocum returns to defend his title at The Barclays this year -- yet, the tournament is being played on a course where he missed the cut the only other time it hosted the first event in the Playoffs.

Slocum prevailed over a star-studded leaderboard at Liberty National in 2009, beating Tiger Woods, Ernie Els, Padraig Harrington and Steve Stricker by a shot. A year earlier at Ridgewood, he shot 73-71 and had the weekend off.

Slocum plans to concentrate on the positive vibes he gained at Liberty National. He's had three top-10s in his last 10 starts and ranks 50th in the FedExCup -- a far cry from last year when he squeaked in at No. 124.

"It is a bit different, just being on a different course," Slocum said Tuesday. "... It's actually a good thing, you come in and you kind of have to relive a little bit of what happened last year, which is a good thing, because it just starts putting those same memories into my head.

"So my job this week is to kind of take that confidence, put last year's win out of my mind and go play golf and enjoy it."

SENTIMENTAL PUTTER: Bubba Watson still has the first PING putter he ever used. He got the B60 when he was 8 and used it until he turned pro. He's had two more since, including the Redwood Anser model he uses now.

The B60, though, is particularly special. It has a green diamond on the top that Watson can see when he putts -- but there's more.

"My dad used to paint all the shafts,'" said Watson, who favors pink with his driver. "So all the shafts were multi-colored. I still have the multi-colored shaft there, and it's sitting in my house in a safe place."

DONATIONS FOR BIRDIES: Slocum suffers from colitis. So he was particularly pleased to learn that The Barclays will donate $150 for every birdie the defending champ makes this week to the Greater New York Chapter of the Crohn's and Colitis Foundation.

The dollar amount was chosen in honor of the 150,000 children who are affected by the disease.

"I hope it raises a little bit of awareness not only for this week and definitely raises some money, but I hope that more and more people around this area and across the country kind of maybe hear about it and check out the CCFA," said Slocum, who is the national spokesperson for the foundation.

"It's just something that's very near and dear to me. I'm glad that Barclays has stepped up and done that for not only for myself but for the Crohn's and Colitis Foundation.