World number one
Dustin Johnson has been forced to withdraw from the first major of the season due to a back injury.
The American was widely regarded as the favourite to win heading into Masters week. However, a freak fall down some stairs at his Augusta rental home on Wednesday night led Johnson to withdraw before his opening round yesterday. A crushing blow to the 32-year-old who was hoping to secure his second major title, Johnson informed the press at Augusta yesterday of his need to pull out of the event.
“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.”
Adding, “I was doing everything I could to try to play. Last night, ice, heat, ice. I was up pretty much all night, trying to get it ready for today. I’ve been worked on all morning. And 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 just real tight. As I was making some swings on the range, it was about 80 percent. And it’s just so tight, I couldn’t get through a backswing. I couldn’t make a good backswing. But 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.”
