Player's Journal: Ryggs Johnston

With Jack Milko

The northern shores of Northern Ireland are full of mystic folklore, which make you feel as if the clock stops, time pauses, and you fall right into the depths of history. The jaw-dropping rock formations of Giants Causeway force the question, “How is this real?” The Dunluce Castle, the fortress that once stood tall in the Middle Ages and helped protect the Emerald Isle from Viking intruders, now overlooks the small town of Portrush in ruins. But it's a beautiful reminder of what this place was – and still is.

Almost on the other side of the globe, the Big Sky Country of Montana offers similar sentiments in a way. Horse-back riding, cattle-ranching, fly-fishing, all while in the shadows of the Rocky Mountains, makes time come to a screeching halt, leading one to embrace the irresistible nature that the Big Sky has to offer. It’s an escape into a different time period too, one where pioneers and cowboys dominated the landscape.

It’s also where Ryggs Johnston grew up, learned how to play golf, and came of age. His parents named him after Mel Gibson’s character in the movie Lethal Weapon as his family has a penchant for using ‘R’ names for their children. “They were kind of running out of names, I guess,” Johnston says.

At the age of three, his parents gifted him a plastic golf set and he immediately became obsessed. But he would often break his new clubs, creating massive dents in their feeble design. Real golf balls have that effect on toddler sets. A year later, his great uncle made him a custom set of real clubs to fit his size, which only increased his admiration for the game. Ryggs was off and running.

Johnston, who turned 25 in May, is now a rising star on the DP World Tour after having a successful college career at Arizona State. And after an unbelievable start to his career in the Land Down Under last fall, Johnston booked a ticket to The Open via the Open Qualifying Series. His unlikely win at the Australian Open – in just his second professional start – at Kingston Heath guaranteed him a spot in the oldest event in the world. He will make his major championship debut at Royal Portrush on the shores of Northern Ireland this week.

"I've seen major championships on TV and how hard the golf courses can be, and I'm excited to experience that myself and see where my game stacks up on a major championship caliber course,” Johnston said.

“It’s going to play tough and the weather conditions are probably going to be tough, and all the best players in the world will be there, so, it'll be a good experience to see how I can compete with those players.”

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Royal Portrush’s Dunluce Course, named after the Castle that overlooks it just five miles down the road, will host The Open for a third time in 2025. It last welcomed the world’s best in 2019, when Shane Lowry conquered the links just hours from his hometown of Clara in the Republic. The Dunluce perennially ranks among the best in the world and is a textbook example of links golf, a style of play that is not seen in Montana, let alone the United States. To play links requires imagination and a lower ball flight – a piercing trajectory to battle the winds that often wreak havoc on these seaside layouts. Having an exquisite short game and accuracy off the tee is paramount too.

“I usually hit the ball pretty high, so lately I've been trying to kind of figure out ways to keep it lower and, you know, get comfortable with hitting lower shots and trying to, you know, shape shots and everything with winds,” Johnston said.

“But I do like playing in the winds quite a bit. One of the stronger parts of my game is ball striking, and that is always important in the wind. I haven't played too much links golf, so it's definitely gonna be a little bit of an adjustment.”

Ryggs Johnston on the first tee on day three of the ISPS Handa Australian Open 2024 in Melbourne, Australia. (Photo by Andy Cheung/Getty Images)

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Johnston spent a good portion of June at home in Montana, working to perfect a lower ball flight. He hosted a youth camp too, offering instruction to those who aspire to be like him one day. Not many pros hail from Big Sky Country, which features more rodeo competitions than golf tournaments. But golf does not discriminate. Any individual from any walk of life or locale can play. It attracts us all, from young to old. Just ask a young Ryggs.

The month of June also provided Johnston the opportunity to fly fish with his caddie, Jonny Cielak, who was a fly fishing guide in a previous life.

But with The Open lurking around the corner, Johnston spent much more time working on his driver, a club that has abandoned him as of late. His misses with the big stick have been to both the left and to right, which explains why the Sun Devil standout ranks 137th on the DPWT in driving accuracy.

Ryggs Johnston hits his tee shot on the 14th hole on day one of the Hero Indian Open 2025 in New Delhi, India. (Photo by Luke Walker/Getty Images)

“When I'm playing really well, I can just aim at the left edge of the fairway and cut it back in there,” Johnston said.

“The miss has been everywhere lately, which is a little frustrating. I have been trying to really focus hard on just getting comfortable hitting the cut again, so at least I could have that shot in the bag when I need it. Over the last few holes in Australia, when I really knew that if I made three pars that I was going to win the tournament, I just aimed at the left edge of the fairway and hit a cut, and it worked pretty well.”

At the Australian Open in November, Johnston began the final round tied atop the leaderboard with Lucas Herbert, an Aussie.

“I was pretty happy just to be up there so I kind myself, ‘Man, if I just play my own game today, and not worry about leaderboards or anything, I'm going to at least have a pretty good finish – a top 5 or top 10 finish in your second event is pretty good,” Johnston said.

I went out with the mentality that I'm just gonna play my own game and whatever happens happens.

The first hole at Kingston Heath is a par-5, but the fairway narrows in the area where the pros hit Driver. There is also some trouble right and a big bunker to the left. Hence, most players hit a long iron or fairway wood off the tee to keep it in play.

But after Johnston saw Herbert, his playing partner in the final group, uncork a perfect tee ball with his driver, the young pro decided to follow suit. He hadn’t hit driver all week on the opening hole.

Ryggs Johnston tees off during the third round of the 2024 ISPS Handa Australian Open Golf in Melbourne. (Photo by WILLIAM WEST/AFP via Getty Images)

“I ended up hitting a good drive and then I made an eagle on that hole and it was like, ‘Oh, okay, well, I'm in it,’” Johnston said. “It kind of gets the nerves out early.”

He went on to win by three strokes over Australia’s Curtis Luck, thanks to a flawless Second Nine that featured three birdies and zero bogeys. Johnston relied on his butter cut off the tee, which led him to victory.

But how he got into the Australian Open field is quite remarkable in the first place.

Following his graduation from Arizona State in 2024, Ryggs assessed his opportunities in pro golf. His coach, Matt Thurmond, recommended that, before playing in the Korn Ferry Tour Q-School, he should try to make it on the DP World Tour via its Q-School in Spain.

“[Coach] thought it was a great idea to get a little bit of experience playing [DP World Tour] Q school because it's pretty intense,” Johnston explained.

“And if I were to make it through, it would be a pretty cool experience, and then I just happened to make it through.”

Since Johnston finished among the top 20 at DP World Tour Q-School, he earned a spot in the Australian PGA Championship and the Australian Open, the first two events of the 2024-25 DP World Tour schedule.

During the second round of the Australian PGA Championship, Johnston bogeyed the 4th and 6th – his 13th and 15th holes of the day – to drop to a shot outside the cut line. But he made a birdie on the last, which gave him life and guaranteed that he would receive his first professional paycheck.

It also gave him plenty of confidence going into the following week.

“I still planned on doing Korn Ferry Q school,” Johnston said. “But it was gonna be a tight turnaround between the Australian Open and my second [Q-School] stage site.”

If he made the cut at the Australian Open, Ryggs told himself that he would withdraw from Korn Ferry Q-School. It was logistically impossible for him to play both. And of course, not only did he make the cut, but he won the whole tournament. His victory not only gave him a spot in The Open this week at Royal Portrush, but it provided job security: Johnston is exempt on the DP World Tour for the 2026 season too.

(L-R) Curtis Luck of Australia, Ryggs Johnston of the United States and Marc Leishman of Australia pose after qualifying for the 2025 Open Championship at Royal Portrush at the ISPS Handa Australian Open. (Photo by Andy Cheung/Getty Images)

Since his win at Kingston Heath, Johnston has no top-20s to his name on the DP World Tour. He recently tied for 26th at the BMW International Open in Germany, but then missed the cut at the Scottish Open this past week.

But at least he got some links golf experience at The Renaissance Club before this upcoming week in Co. Antrim. Maybe his missed cut in Scotland will serve as a blessing in disguise. He could head to Portrush earlier than most, scout the course, which is a course that requires accuracy from tee to green. Surely, he will continue to work on his swing too.

I'm excited to experience that myself and see where my game stacks up on a major championship caliber course

One of the many reasons why golf is such a beautiful game is that it is so unpredictable – like life itself. Johnston did not envision playing full time on the DP World Tour, nor did anyone predict that he would win the Stonehaven Cup at the Australian Open, a tournament won by the likes of Jack Nicklaus, Gary Player, Arnold Palmer, Tom Watson, and Greg Norman.

And now he has a chance to become the 10th player to win the Claret Jug in their Open debut. He is certainly a long shot. But if he plays his own game, sticks to his plan, and makes committed swings, anything is possible – just like Johnston going from Libby, Montana to the apex of Australian Golf and now to the northern shores of Northern Ireland.

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