Dustin Johnson’s U.S. Open prep begins off the course

Dustin Johnson and trainer “Joey D” have developed a fitness routine designed to peak for major chammpionships

Watching Dustin Johnson stride across a golf course, looking calm, cool, and without a care in the world, you could be mistaken in thinking his success—23 PGA Tour wins, a major championship, FedEx Cup title, and 95 weeks at World No. 1—came about naturally, the result of his gifted athleticism. But it’s no accident.

Johnson, like an ever-growing number of golfers in the modern game, understands the importance of training, nutrition, and getting ready off-the-course in order to play his best on it. For the past 10 seasons, he’s worked with trainer Joey “Joey D” Diovisalvi at his academy in Jupiter, Florida, working to make the most of his athletic gifts.

At this stage in Johnson’s career, 36 years old and with 12 years on the PGA Tour on his resume, he’s particularly focused on getting ready for four weeks a year, the major championships. In a regular PGA Tour event, Johnson might show up on Monday night or Tuesday. But at a major, like this week at the U.S. Open, he arrives on Sunday.

His routine stays the same throughout the tournament. For Thursday’s opening round at Winged Foot, he didn’t tee off until 1:16 p.m. But he was already in the gym with Joey D at 8 in the morning. He’ll do 30 minutes on a bike, wearing a WHOOP bracelet to monitor his heart rate. Then it’s on to ground activation, lying on a mat to activate his glutes, quads, spine, core, and anything that affects his mobility. He’ll then work with a medicine ball, throwing it to Joey D like he was swinging his driver. The entire routine takes around 75 minutes, and he still hasn’t arrived at the course yet.

“One thing we don’t like to do is change our routine,” Joey D says. “And Dustin, like many golfers, he is a routine person. For us, it’s about the consistency of his body and continuing to be able to feel his body as he goes into a major, but peaking.”

His work is not done there. When he returns to where he’s staying for the week, he’ll do a stretching routine and focus on diet and nutrition. He’ll finally arrive at the course about two hours, 15 minutes before his tee time to work on the practice range.

Joey D has seen a side of Johnson that the public rarely sees, a player obsessively driven to succeed and willing to put in the long hours to make it happen. Diovisalvi challenges Johnson in the gym or while riding their bikes alongside each other back home in Florida. It’s all designed to bring out the best in the world’s top-ranked golfer.

“He’s ultra-competitive, but I don’t know if you see that displayed on TV,” Joey D says. “But in the gym, on a bike when we’re home in Florida…he’s very competitive with me. I think you see that fiery side of him in the gym.”

Nutrition plays an integral part of Johnson’s success. He travels with his own personal chef, Michael Parks, who prepares meals for him that contain the necessary amount of protein and essential fats. Johnson is also an investor in BodyArmor, a sports drink company founded in 2011. It’s all part of a carefully orchestrated process that allows Johnson to recover quickly and not feel sore after a major championship round.

“Dustin has been very, very aware of what nutrition means for recovery and absorption,” Joey D says. “A lot of people eat because they enjoy it. Athletes, when you’re like Dustin, although he does enjoy certain meals, he understands now the benefit of what you’re eating and how the body absorbs it so you can recover and have a better performance the following day.”

Joey D is 55. He’s worked with the game’s top golfers, from Johnson to Brooks Koepka and Rickie Fowler, for more than 20 years. While he works exclusively with Johnson now, players like Justin Thomas and Tiger Woods still train at his Florida academy.

He’s seen a significant shift in how golfers treat the fitness and nutrition aspects of their games. “I think players aren’t afraid anymore,” he says. “I think there was a fear factor when I started 20 years ago. Everybody was like, no, baseball players and golfers can’t lift weights because you’re going to get muscle-bound. This term that the general public used but didn’t understand.”

“You see the physical training that has really evolved into the evolution of the modern-day athlete. And I think golfers are no longer afraid to be known as athletes.”

So while Johnson has been blessed with the physical gifts that allow him to drive a golf ball 320 yards down the middle of the fairway, he didn’t get to his elevated status in the game by luck alone. Getting ready for a major championship is hard work, and for Johnson and the other top players, it’s work well worth the reward.