I take it you've heard all these bletherings about Scotland becoming the base for the UK's first space port within the next three years?

Personally, the latest update about propelling white-knuckled, peely-wally folk into the cosmos aboard some kind of silver starship was greeted with a nonchalant shrug given that I've always thought good auld Caledonia was already at the forefront of intergalactic travel. I mean, if you've ever strapped yourself on to the night bus from Glasgow city centre after kicking out time at the pub, you'll have experienced that bewildering feeling of being transported to a different planet as you rumble along through the light years in the company of gurgling, boggle-eyed extraterrestrial life forms. Not quite a Space Odyssey, more a shuddering voyage with spaced out oddities.

On the golfing frontiers, meanwhile, Dustin Johnson's journey towards rehabilitation took a giant leap on Sunday as he finished on top of the World Golf Championship event in Florida. Your correspondent may struggle to contain the little green mutations on the late bus but Johnson tamed the Blue Monster at Doral. Donald Trump's 7,524 yard, water-strewn blockbuster in Florida is as brutal as the American tycoon's hair in a stiff breeze and the crash, bang, wallop nature of the tournament became fairly wearisome.

It was hardly surprising, therefore, that Johnson, one of the PGA Tour's biggest hitters with an average clatter off the tee of some 317 yards this season, emerged triumphant ahead of the equally prodigious JB Holmes and Bubba Watson. Of course, there is much, much more to the 30-year-old's game than just blasting balls into a different stratosphere. Formidable power is a mighty weapon in his armoury but the American is far from one-dimensional. There has never been any doubting Johnson's abundant skills and capabilities but questions have always lingered about his application and dedication to the cause.

The six-month leave of absence he has just returned from produced more twittering, chattering and gossiping than a year-long subscription to Heat magazine and certainly didn't do anything to temper the growing sense that Johnson was destined to be another great unfulfilled talent. "I did my fair share of partying," he said. "When I drank, I drank too much."

Of course, there were other indulgences that Johnson was alleged to have dabbled with. Claims of drug taking and liaisons with another tour player's wife have been rife since he departed from the scene midway through the 2014 campaign to sort out his "personal challenges." We can't all be saints and it's easy for observers to come over all po-faced and puritanical, but the fact his six month disappearance was never fully explained, amid growing rumours and reports that he was banned for failing a third drugs test, reflected poorly on the game as a whole as it once again highlighted the general daftness of the hush-hush approach adopted by golfing officialdom when it comes to matters of discipline. Penalties are all kept in house and never disclosed and the top brass take on the kind of silence that would make a Trappist Monk sound like a rabbiting blaw bag. The end result of all of this is that speculation becomes rife and a hiatus like the one Johnson had been on is viewed with wide-spread suspicion.

As the return of the game to the Olympics next year looms ever larger, the need for it to become open and frank on the issue of drugs is paramount. Coming over all tight-lipped in the hope that certain circumstances and situations can be brushed under the carpet completely flies in the face of the essential spirit of transparency.

Johnson's triumph on Sunday, the ninth PGA Tour victory of his career, at least added a positive chapter to his recent story. Since making his eagerly anticipated comeback at the start of February, the former Walker Cup player has recorded a win, a play-off defeat and a fourth place finish in the five events he has contested. Johnson, who became a father for the first time during his break, has hoisted himself up to seventh place on the world rankings and is manoeuvring himself into position for an assault on the majors, with the Masters barely a month away and on an Augusta National course that should play into his high and handsome hands.

Johnson's previous major moments have been characterised by collapses and late lapses. He led the 2010 US Open by three only to balloon to a final round 82 while a two-shot penalty on the 72nd hole of that year's US PGA Championship for grounding his club in a bunker he never actually realised was a bunker when leading effectively cost him the title. The following year, a wild double-bogey on the 14th hole of the final day at the Open thwarted any ambitions and questions again were asked of Johnson's mental fortitude.

Re-energised, re-dedicated and re-focused, Johnson appears to be making better decisions both on and off the course these days and he may just be ready to realise his true potential. On this road to redemption, big-hitting Johnson seems to have found the straight and narrow. Only time will tell how far it takes him.