Dustin Johnson rules himself out of the Masters Tournament after back injury – Golf News
The United States’ Dustin Johnson, after suffering a back injury, has announced his withdrawal from the Masters Tournament, scheduled to start from April 5, 2012.
According to his agent, David Winkle, Johnson suffered the injury while he was trying to lift the Jet Ski last week.
This is not the first time that Johnson has been forced to leave the field of the tournament because of the back injury.
Early in the 2012 season, he withdrew from the Humana Challenge because of the same problem. Thereafter, he continued playing for six weeks with the lingering back injury.
"His back bothered him from time to time. He kind of played through the pain, but it was never crippling," Winkle said in a voicemail. "He rested it at Bay Hill, got back to working some last week, and tweaked it last week lifting a jet ski".
Winkle said that he will consult some other doctors too in order to confirm the seriousness of the injury. At the same time, he said that everything looked fine and there is nothing to worry about as it seems.
"At the same time, it did knock him out this week," Winkle said. "Needless to say, he's pretty bummed out at this point".
Following his withdrawal from the tournament, he expressed his dismay over his absence from the first major event of the year.
He said that he was getting back to his form after recovering from the knee injury that he suffered last year. However, it is a huge disappointment to be sidelined from the Masters after another fitness issue this year.
"First I have to apologize to the fans and sponsors. With heartfelt regret, I won't be playing in the Masters due to a tweaked back," Johnson wrote on Twitter.
This was supposed to be his fourth appearance in the Masters. In the previous stints, he tied for the 30th position in 2009 and tied for the 38th place in both the 2010 and 2011 editions of the tournament.
According to the recent figures, there were 97 players scheduled to tee off on the field of Augusta National Golf Club.
With Johnson’s absence from the event, there will now be 96 players contending against for the green jacket.
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