STAIRWAY TO HELL
DUSTIN DROPS OUT DUE TO FALL
AUGUSTA, Ga. — The lesson here is don’t decide to move your car wearing only your socks, especially if you’re playing in the Masters the next day. Dustin Johnson made that mistake and wound up withdrawing from Thursday’s opening round of the 81st Masters
Johnson, the world’s No. 1 player and winner of his last three starts, said he slipped on the stairs of his rental home Wednesday night, injuring his lower back. He said he was about “80 percent” when he arrived at Augusta National about two hours before his 2:03 p.m. tee time.
He took some easy swings on the practice range then went back inside the clubhouse for more treatment. He came out again to practice with a his long irons and driver, but was constantly rubbing his back and let- ting his caddie tee-up his ball.
Johnson worked his way to the putting green next to the first hole, where he rolled five or six putts. But when his playing partners Bubba Watson and Jimmy Walker started toward the tee box, Johnson headed for the clubhouse.
“It’s just so tight. I couldn’t make a good back swing,” Johnson said during an impromptu press conference. “Every time right at impact it would just catch. So I just don’t feel like there’s any chance of me competing. It hurts.”
Johnson was the betting favorite coming into the year’s first major championship. The 2016 U.S. Open Champion has been the dominant figure in golf, posting wins at the Genesis Open, the WGC-Mexico and the WGC-Match Play.
With Augusta National softened by rain, Johnson figured to take advantage with his length off t he tee and dependable short game. But then he injured his back on his way to move his car.
“I was wearing socks,” he said. “So I just slipped as I was going down the stairs. It actually would have been better if it had been the first set of stairs because I probably would have slid right down it. But it was only three [steps] so I landed right on the bottom. My left elbow is swollen and bruised. I landed on my left side.”
A regimen of heat and ice wasn’t enough for Johnson to make a full recovery and play in what would have been his eighth Masters.
“I was up pretty much all night, trying to get it ready for today,” he said. “I’ve been worked on all morning. Obviously, I can make some swings, but I try and make my normal swing and I just don’t feel like there’s any chance I’d be able to compete.”
“It’s tough. I want to play. I’m playing probably the best golf of my career and I look forward to this tournament every year. And to have a freak accident happen yesterday afternoon after I got back from the course, it’s tough.”
Johnson said he should be fine in another two days.
“I want to play,” he said. “This issue is I just can’t swing.”