The PGA Tour’s rift with LIV Golf has taken its toll on players. Rory McIlroy missed the chance of teeing up against Brooks Koepka. Keegan Bradley feels like a ‘stranger’ after close buddies Brendan Steele and Cameron Tringale left for LIV. Similarly, one mention of Dustin Johnson opens the floodgates for Collin Morikawa.

“Ohhh… God I miss him.” The seven-time PGA Tour winner leans back on his comfy armchair. It was 2021, a month before the Ryder Cup. The conversation on the range was more about the trip to Whistling Straits than the ongoing PGA Tour event.

Morikawa recalls in a chat with Golf.com’s Claire Rogers, “Steve Stricker calls me ten minutes before my tee time. He’s like… he has gotta little high-pitch voice, ‘Hey, what do you think about playing with Dustin Johnson? I’m like yeah, I’m not gonna say no; I wanna play.”

At Whistling Straits, Morikawa and DJ were to the USA team what Tommy Fleetwood and  Francesco Molinari were to the European team at Le Golf National in 2018. And a bit more. Not just their game, but their personalities matched. The results?

A 3 & 2 victory against Viktor Hovland and Paul Casey in the Friday morning foursomes. 2 & 1 triumph against Casey and Tyrrell Hatton in the Saturday morning foursomes. And most importantly, subjecting Ian Poulter and Rory McIlroy to a 4 & 3 dressdown on Saturday afternoon fourball. Morikawa tied with Hovland on Sunday, while Johnson beat Casey 1 up in the singles.

Many toasts were raised in honor of the man who paired them. It was Steve Stricker’s idea. “They just complement each other.” That’s all he said after the Ryder Cup. The two did complement each other.

They were and still are quite low-key on the course. Fist pumps are rare; roars are rarer. Yet they get the job done, as Morikawa said. And sure did he miss his partner in the Presidents Cup, penning an emotional note for Dustin Johnson. However, unlike what you may think, they didn’t have a lot to chat about on the course. Conversations were minimal, but they were precise and quite intense.

Collin Morikawa and Dustin Johnson rarely chatted on the course

Morikawa was 24, but still looked like a guy just out of college. Dustin Johnson was 37, but the wisdom of a decade-long career left its mark: a receding hairline, a deep voice, and a small but visible dad bod. So the age gap was there, yet, they knew their job.

“It’s the best pairing I could’ve asked for. My first Ryder Cup. I think our personality… got along really well… We didn’t need to say anything. We got the job done.” Three years ago, Morikawa said the exact same thing.

Talking about his partnership with Johnson, the rookie Ryder Cupper said, “When we were up, it was just me saying, ‘Let’s step on their necks. Let’s finish off this match.’ Our conversations ended pretty quickly.”  Collin Morikawa is right as rain. They knew the task at hand, perhaps too well.

“Hopefully I’ll play with him for the next few Ryder Cups that I play on,” Dustin Johnson said after the 2018 Ryder Cup. That chance didn’t come last year. With his increasing age and dwindling form—DJ has only one top-10 in his last eight majors—a Ryder Cup pairing between the two is unlikely. So, Morikawa is likely to fill a Dustin Johnson-sized hole in his heart, be it the Presidents Cup or the Ryder Cup.