Do You Remember...Dustin Johnson Falls Down Stairs To Miss Masters

We look back at 2017 where World No.1 Dustin Johnson withdrew from The Masters after failing to recover from a 'serious fall' on Wednesday afternoon

Do You Remember...Dustin Johnson Falls Down Stairs To Miss Masters

Dustin Johnson of course slipped himself into the Green Jacket in imperious fashion last year after playing some of his best golf to get to world number one. Indeed coming into the tournament his form was reminiscent of 2017, but he would not even get to compete at Augusta in The Masters then because of an accident at his rental home.

The World No.1 at the time withdrew from the 2017 tournament after failing to recover from a 'serious fall' in Augusta on the Wednesday afternoon.

He was hopeful of playing and turned up to the practice ground an hour or so before his tee time, but he walked off the 1st tee shaking his head before hitting a single shot.

Johnson, who had won his last three PGA Tour events, slipped down the stairs at his rented house near the golf course.

Related: 18 Things You Didn't Know About Dustin Johnson

"It sucks. I want to play. I'm playing the best golf of my life and to have a freak accident happen yesterday afternoon, it sucks really bad," Johnson said.

"I have been worked on all morning and obviously I can take some swings, but I can't swing full, I can't make my normal swing and I didn't think there was any chance I could compete."

Augusta National was closed for the day on Wednesday shortly after 1pm as serious storms descended on the area.

Shortly afterwards, Johnston returned to his accommodation for the week, where the freak accident occurred.

He was put on a course of anti-inflammatories and quickly began a programme of icing, but it appears to have been in vain.

He was due to appear at the Golf Association of America's annual awards on Wednesday evening, but doctors advised that he stay immobile at home.

Related: The Masters Favourites 2021

His agent, David Winkle, released the following statement shortly after the incident:

"At roughly 3:00pm today, Dustin took a serious fall on a staircase in his Augusta rental home.

"He landed very hard on his lower back and is now resting, although quite uncomfortably. He has been advised to remain immobile and begin a regimen of anti-inflammatory medication and icing, with the hope of being able to play tomorrow."

Johnson was forced to pull out of the 2012 Masters after suffering a back injury while lifting a jet-ski.

Johnson became the fourth World No.1 to miss a Major Championship, following Rory McIlroy (2015 Open), Greg Norman (1988 Open Championship) and Tiger Woods (2008 Open and PGA Championship and 2014 Masters).

As we mentioned above though, Johnson put these bad memories behind him in 2020 as he won The Masters by five strokes in the November event.