8. Golden opportunity slips away for DJ
Generally speaking, the world No. 1 not playing causes a tournament to lose some of its cache. At the Masters, that’s not really the case. Augusta National is the true star of the week every year.
So, while the tournament was fine without Dustin Johnson in the field, DJ’s absence was a major blow to him personally.
DJ had won each of his last three tournaments. Entering the week, he was the hottest golfer in the world by a wide margin. Given how 2015 and 2016 were his best career performances at the Masters, 2017 was a great chance for him to step up and claim his first green jacket.
It’s awfully hard to imagine that he wouldn’t have been at least in the mix over the weekend. The tough conditions of the first two days would have suited Johnson’s game very well.
Obviously, that was not meant to be.