INJURED JOHNSON DOESN’T TEE IT UP
Back pain from fall forces No. 1 player to withdraw
AUGUSTA, Ga. — Dustin Johnson arrived at Augusta National on quite a roll, having won the last three tournaments he had entered.
He didn’t even take a shot at the first major of the year.
Johnson, the No. 1- ranked player in the world, was forced to withdraw Thursday from the Masters because of a lower- back injury suffered in a freak fall Wednesday at the home he was renting for the week.
‘‘ I want to play,’’ Johnson said. ‘‘ I just can’t swing.’’
He certainly tried, arriving at the club about two hours before he was scheduled to tee off in the last group of the opening round. He took some easy swings on the practice range, headed back inside for additional treatment, then broke out his longer irons and even his driver to see how the back reacted.
Johnson was clearly in pain, rubbing his back several times and letting his caddie tee up the ball so he didn’t have to bend over. After an extended conversation with his coach, Butch Harmon, Johnson started walking toward the first tee. His intention was to play, but his back wouldn’t let him.
‘‘ It sucks,’’ Johnson said. ‘‘ I’m playing the best golf of my career. This is one of my favorite tournaments of the year. Then a freak accident happened [ Wednesday] when I got back from the course. It sucks. It sucks really bad.’’
Johnson got as far as the putting green between the clubhouse and the first tee. After about a halfdozen putts, he pulled out an iron and took a few more halfhearted practice swings.
As playing partners Jimmy Walker and Bubba Watson headed toward the tee, Johnson went the opposite way.
‘‘ I was doing everything I would to try to play,’’ he said. ‘‘ Last night, it was ice, heat, ice. I was up pretty much all night, trying to get it ready for today. I had it worked on all morning. I can make some swings, but I can’t make my normal swing.’’
The tournament was over for Johnson before it began, a stunning development that removed the favorite to win the green jacket from the field.
‘‘ It’s disappointing, for sure, for everybody,’’ 2013 Masters champion Adam Scott said. ‘‘ To pull out of the Masters when you’re in the kind of form he’s in, it must be a very difficult decision to make. Hopefully he gets better quick.’’
Two- time major champion Jordan Spieth said he realized Johnson was out of the tournament when his name was removed from the scoreboard.
‘‘ As a friend of his and somebody who’s played a lot of golf with him, I know this: It must really, really not be good in order for him not to tee it up,’’ said Spieth, the 2015 Masters champion.
The accident occurred after Johnson returned to his rental home from a practice session. On his way outside to move his car and wearing only socks, he slipped on a short staircase.
‘‘ It would have been better if it was a full set of stairs,’’ he said. ‘‘ I would have slid all the way down. But there were only three steps. I landed on my left side. My left elbow is sore and bruised. My lower left back took the brunt of it.’’
Johnson said he doesn’t think the injury is serious. In fact, if it had happened earlier in the week, he might have been able to play.
‘‘ I feel like in two days, I’ll be fine,’’ Johnson said.
Freak injuries aren’t unprecedented in golf. Two years ago, Rory McIlroy was playing soccer when he ruptured ligaments in an ankle a few weeks before he was to defend his title in the British Open at St. Andrews as the No. 1- ranked player in the world.