Discover the Legend

For this year’s Ballantine’s Championship, Ballantine’s has been running the ‘Discover the Legend’ campaign; providing a variety of unique insights into both the game of golf and those who play it. Dustin Johnson, Louis Oosthuizen and YE Yang pay tribute to their own legends – the players they believe have most influenced the game

Dustin Johnson

Do you think golf itself is a legend?

Dustin Johnson: Golf itself is a legend. It’s a legend that has been played throughout history and it’s such a unique game that you can play with everyone, businessmen or whoever. I can go and play with all my friends and although they play basketball, baseball or football, they all still love playing golf.

The game will further evolve and is constantly changing. From when I started playing golf, until now, golf has definitely changed. For example with the drivers; I will always hit with a metal wood but I did have a couple of wooden clubs when I started which was when metal woods were just coming out. The size of the clubs and the balls from when I started to now is amazing; golf has changed completely.

Louis Oosthuizen: History is what makes the sport. Everyone will always recognise St Andrews as where golf evolved from and that is a great part of the heritage. Everyone wants to leave their own legacy on the game and become a legend in their own right. As a child growing up, I remember being inspired by watching old videos of Ben Hogan and Gene Sarazen. Hopefully children today will be inspired by watching my generation of players – it’s an endless cycle that works in keeping the legend of golf alive.

When Tiger Woods came along, it was scary what he did to the game and I think everyone’s level just went up big time. He had a stage where whenever he walked on the course he won the tournament and I think everyone got better and better as a result.

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