Injured Johnson forced to back out of Masters
Dustin Johnson has had a lot of strange luck in major championships, but he had never before been beaten by a staircase.
Johnson, the top-ranked golfer in the world who came to Augusta National on a three-tournament winning streak, slipped on the stairs at his rental house on Wednesday afternoon and made it as far as the first tee on Thursday afternoon before deciding he could not go in the 81st Masters.
“For me to pull out, it sucks really bad,” the laconic 32-year-old from Columbia, S.C., said in a television interview. “I’m really sad.”
Johnson, who was the first player in more than 40 years to win three straight before the Masters, said he was wearing socks on a small set of hardwood stairs at his rental house on Wednesday when he slipped and fell. He said he landed on his elbows and lower back and was not able to swing at better than 70 per cent on the driving range.
“I just felt I wasn’t able to compete,” Johnson said. “It’s unbelievably difficult.”
Johnson warmed up on the range on Thursday and practised on the putting green next to the first tee, and even made it as far as the tee itself before he changed his mind.
“I was doing everything I could to try to play. Last night ice, heat, ice. I was up pretty much up all night, trying to get it ready for today. I’ve been worked on all morning,” he said.
Johnson said he has no major worries about his long-term health or his ability to play the rest of this season.
“The worst part about it is I feel like in two days, I’m going to be fine,” he said.
Canadian Adam Hadwin said the accident made him realize how fragile an athlete’s body can be.
“So much torque is being put on our bodies constantly and one wrong move, one wrong swing, one wrong slip and the next thing you know you’re not playing this week. It’s very unfortunate,” he said.