It was nearly a month ago when The Thud Head ‘Round The Golf World took place on a rainy Wednesday afternoon in Augusta, Ga.
That’s when the old The Bigger They Are The Harder They Fall adage came to pass as Dustin Johnson’s socks betrayed him on a hardwood stairway.
You know what happened after D.J.’s massive slip-and-fall and the resulting back injury that would cause him to withdraw from The Masters just a few minutes before his Thursday afternoon tee time.
The left side of his lower back took the brunt of that fall. Not even anti-inflammatories, nor ice, nor any kind of therapy could heal him in time for that afternoon tee time.
Johnson would later say that if it had happened on Monday, he could have played.
Ah, the could-haves.
D.J. headed back home to Jupiter where he recouped nicely. It wasn’t long after his tumble that he said he’d be playing in the Wells Fargo.
Now here we are, Wells Fargo week and Dustin Johnson will be back with all eyes on that back of his.
Hopefully it’s as good as it was going into The Masters, as good as it was before his feet went out from under him on that woeful Wednesday.
He is, after all, the world’s No. 1 and a winner in his past three starts. He was the odds-on favorite to win the Green Jacket that Sergio Garcia now has.
Good news for D.J. is that there are still three majors left this season, three more chances.
This week will be one of his three or four tune-ups before the U.S. Open in six weeks at Erin Hills up in Wisconsin.
Johnson will be at The Players next week and the Memorial on June 1. He may add another start before the U.S. Open, where he is the defending champion.
After that tumble, the good news for Johnson was that an MRI revealed only a deep bruise and that’s healed now. He was back on his stationary bike the week after The Masters.
“One thing I never want to have to do again is watch a major from my couch,” Johnson declared after he watched Sergio slip on the Green Jacket that could have been his.
Johnson said he was pulling for Garcia all the way.
“Sergio and I are friends, I was rooting for him. It was cool to see him get that first one. I know a little bit of what he’s been through. He’d been close a few times, just like I had been close. It took him a lot longer.”
One of Johnson’s best assets is that he leaves disappointment behind him. He lets it roll off his back like the proverbial duck and water.
“One reason I’m good at golf is that I try not to let it bother me,” Johnson has said more than once.
Yes, that’s D.J. and that is the approach that has taken him to the lofty spot he now holds in the world rankings.
He’s been the hottest player on the planet but it has been nearly a month now.
But finally, he’s back and hopefully the back is just fine.
He’ll test it out in Thursday’s first round when he goes out with Davis Love III, who has had a bunch of his own physical issues. Bill Haas is in that threesome with them.
There will be a lot of eyes on D.J. and his back.
But the important thing is that he is back.
