Dustin Johnson has paid tribute to Tiger Woods ahead his induction into the World Golf Hall of Fame, saying everyone wanted to be like the 15-time major champion when growing up.
Woods is to be inducted at the PGA Tour headquarters in Florida on Wednesday alongside former PGA Tour commissioner Tim Finchem, four-time major winner Susie Maxwell and course developer and architect Marion Hollins.
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The 46-year-old has won 82 times on the PGA Tour in his illustrious career, while his 15 majors is second only to Jack Nicklaus, who has 18.
Johnson, who has 28 professional wins to his name, including triumphs at the US Open in 2016 and Masters in 2020, credited Woods with helping to grow the game into a "cool" sport.
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"Tiger obviously was huge for the game of golf and deserves to be in the Hall of Fame," Johnson said at a news conference ahead of The Players Championship, which begins on Thursday.
"For me growing up as a kid, even when I was in high school, golf was still kind of not really considered a cool sport to play.
"Maybe not that many people played it, and especially in high school you kind of were a dork if you played golf.
"But Tiger made it actually a cool sport to play. For me, it was huge. Obviously at that time it was when he was in his prime, so watching him, everybody wanted to be like Tiger.
"He was a huge part of me playing golf and wanting to get out on Tour and play against him."
Johnson has registered just one top-10 finish in 12 previous appearances at TPC Sawgrass, when finishing in a tie for fifth in 2019.
