Eyeing Masters, Johnson opts to rest
Dustin Johnson, the top-ranked golfer in the world, has withdrawn from this week’s Shell Houston Open, the tournament announced Monday.
It has been a busy and successful past few weeks for Johnson, who won his third tournament in a row Sunday — the Dell Technologies Match Play at Austin.
When asked after Sunday’s victory if he was thinking about skipping the Shell to rest for next week’s Masters, he hesitated. “I don’t know,” Johnson said. “Ask me that in the morning when I wake up.”
Although he originally planned to keep Houston on his schedule, that changed Monday when Johnson informed Houston and PGA officials that he would take the week off. In a statement, Johnson apologized for withdrawing but said, “having played seven rounds of competitive golf in the last five days, I feel it is best to give my mind and body a much-needed rest heading into Masters week.” Johnson won the Genesis Open at Los Angeles against the best field of the season Feb. 19 to earn the No. 1 ranking. He then won the first of the season’s four World Golf Championship series events — the Mexico Championship on March 5 against another top field.
His next event was last week’s WGC match-play tournament at Austin.
The Shell, which has its first round Thursday, still has four players ranked in the top 10 — Henrik Stenson (No. 5), Jordan Spieth (No. 6), Adam Scott (No. 7), and Rickie Fowler (No. 9).