BEEF WAS RIGHT TO WALK OFF
Troubled fan favourite to get help he needs
ANDREW ‘Beef’ Johnston’s abrupt exit from the British Masters underlines the pressures lockdown has placed on mental health for sportspeople as well as everyone else.
Johnston had one taste of Covid-proofed European Tour golf and found he did not care for its solitude and isolation.
He wanted to be with his family more than he wanted to be spending evenings alone in a hotel room and quit the tournament after nine holes.
It was the right personal decision – a golf tournament is only a golf tournament after all.
For Johnston, golf is the arena where he sprang to fame as a happy-golucky, gallery high-fiver being serenaded to cries of “Beeeeef” at the Troon
Open in 2016, above. But it is also where he has endured some deep lows since.
Recently, in Mental Health Week, he opened up over his struggles with depression and how it had manifested itself in anxiety attacks and a string of tournament withdrawals. “A lot of people saw me as the joker but had no idea what was going on,” he said. “I was putting too much pressure on myself and not enjoying it. I realised I’d been punching myself in the face for two years.
“It can happen to anyone – it doesn’t matter what you do, what background you are from – everyone is vulnerable at some point in their lives.”
In protecting himself by exiting the European Tour’s first full event back to return home, Johnston, left, recognised the signs. The trigger was the strict anti-coronavirus approach likened to a “military” regime by Lee Westwood.
It comes at a time when the PGA Tour are relaxing their rules to allow players’ wives inside the bio-secure bubble from next week. Close House is lockdown-plus and very different to the usual sociable European Tour environment, but the organisation should be beyond reproach for imposing their tough rules.
The last thing a professional sport needs to be doing is feeding a second spike – and the Tour has no need to take lessons from America in dealing with the virus.
The framework does not fit for Johnston but the silver lining for the 31-year-old in his withdrawal is that every player’s card is secure for next season. There is no pressure to return until he feels happy to do so. In the meantime, he will receive the support of the Tour’s Chief Medical Officer Dr Andrew Murray.
A European Tour spokesperson said: “We offer all of our players a comprehensive programme to support their mental health and well-being.”
The European Tour is the poorer for Johnston’s absence. The Londoner’s infectious grin and warmth humanises any field. They would dearly love to have him back but for the foreseeable future that looks unlikely.