Dustin Johnson: Why His PGA Championship Blunder Will Lead to a Major

"Bless his heart.  He must be the sickest man in America right now." 

Those words were uttered by Verne Lundquist during Super Bowl XIII, when Cowboys tight end Jackie Smith dropped what would have been the game winning touchdown pass. But, it's just as possible that Lundquist would have uttered that phrase on Sunday as well, when Dustin Johnson saw his three-hole playoff dreams go up in smoke after PGA officials decided he grounded his club in a bunker just past the final green of regulation play.

This isn't the first time the 26-year-old Johnson has been the story through an incredible collapse. He held a three-stroke lead heading into the final round of the U.S. Open earlier this year, only to shoot a plus-9 on Sunday, handing Graeme McDowell the trophy on a silver platter.

Couple that collapse with the penalty assessed on Sunday, and Johnson shoots past the current pantheon of Major choke artists, featuring Greg Norman, Van de Velde, and pre-2004 Masters Mickelson. He creates his own special realm of collapse. 

But don't write Johnson off just yet. In fact, this might be just what he needs to win not one, but multiple major titles in his career. 

Look at the facts: There were a lot of players who won majors in recent seasons who haven't been seen or heard from since. Look at Ben Curtis, who has just three PGA Tour wins in his career despite the 2003 British Open title under his belt.

Or Todd Hamilton, who has amassed just two tour victories, despite his 2004 Open title.  What about this year's British Open Champ, Louis Oosthuizen, last season's PGA Champ, Y.E. Yang, and the 2003 PGA Champ, Shaun Micheel, who hasn't won another tournament. 

In other words, becoming a surprise winner of a major isn't exactly good for your record overall. It has to be earned. And the best way to earn a title? Lose a few. Preferably via a heartbreaking loss.

Look at Phil Mickelson. His titles came after he'd suffered some heartbreaking losses on Sunday of just about every major. Yet he's won four of them since. Lefty transformed his reputation from that of a choker to that of a champion.

Or Norman; The Shark has a pair of majors under his belt despite having the reputation of being lackluster in the clutch. Sometimes, the only way to figure out how to win is to lose a few times. 

And then there's the field. Recently, with Tiger still trying to get his groove back (his golf groove, not the other kind), the major tournaments have been wide open.

We're talking more open than the space between Oosthuizen's teeth.  Anybody can win a major, and Johnson's got the kind of talent needed to string together multiple solid rounds.

Is he the next Woods, Nicklaus, or Palmer? No, but he has finished in the top 15 of three of four majors, and has gotten his game together in recent months. There's nothing there to say he's not knocking on the major title door, evidenced by the fact that he recovered from that traumatic collapse at Pebble Beach to be in the position to collapse again at Whistling Straits.

He's also young. At just 26, Johnson is young for a golfer, just breaking into the PGA Tour. He's got plenty of time to get his first, and he's shown a knack for being there going into the final round. In other words, there's nothing in him that would suggest he's cruising towards a Sergio Garcia-type career.

When Lundquist uttered those words about Jackie Smith, the Cowboys ultimately lost, and Smith went into retirement the following season. Johnson may have been the sickest man in America on Sunday, but he can rest easily knowing his time is coming.