Six-time major winner Nick Faldo believes Dustin Johnson can mount a serious challenge for the USPGA Championship, which starts on Thursday.

Faldo was never able to win the final major of the season and his best finish came back in 1992, when he ended up in a tie for second behind winner Nick Price.

The 58-year-old was able to get the business done at the Masters and the Open – both on three separate occasions – and that is something Johnson has struggled to do over the years in the majors.

The American, who is a nine-time winner on the PGA Tour, was tied-sixth at Augusta National in April before blowing a huge opportunity in the US Open at Chambers Bay.

The 31-year-old three-putted the 18th hole to hand the title to compatriot Jordan Spieth by one stroke and then passed up a midway lead in the Open to finish joint-49th.

Nerves have been a big problem for the Florida resident over the years and memories quickly jump back to Pebble Beach in 2010, where he saw a three-shot final day advantage slip away, ending up tied-eighth on five-over-par in the US Open.

The USPGA is the last chance Johnson has to win a major this season but, despite passing up two great opportunities this year, Faldo believes ‘DJ’ can come good.

“The golf course demands really high second shots, so you figure he has to be one of the contenders,” he said. “But mentally, I don’t know. We’ll see how much scar tissue he has from the US Open and The Open.”

Johnson is priced at 15.00 for the title, Spieth is favourite at 7.50 while world number one Rory McIlroy, who has recovered from a bad ankle injury in time for the tournament, is a 12.00 chance.