I'd much rather write approximately Sergio's sixty one at Bridgestone (it turned into AWESOME!) but this story is becoming too big to ignore. So right here goes...
There's a firestorm raging round Thursday's announcement of Dustin Johnson's "indefinite go away" from golf. No doubt you've got heard all of the rumors that began swirling Friday afternoon, so I spent most of the afternoon looking to confirm them and put names and dates to as a lot of them as I can. You can make your personal choices from there.
The first one to hit changed into that DJ is simply serving a 6-month suspension for cocaine use. That reputedly began with this golfing.Com article published Friday, simply after noon. (The image got here from that article as well.) The source, as you would possibly count on, is unnamed however advised them that this is DJ's 3rd failed drug test:
- one for marijuana in 2009
- one for cocaine in 2012 (3-month suspension)
- and this one (6-month suspension)
In this December 2013 interview with GC's Jason Sobel DJ denied any drug use. But this NY Post article indicated that most Tour players weren't surprised by this newest violation:
For some round the sport and who realize Johnson, the news did now not come as a surprise.
"It?S one of the least-saved secrets on Tour how plenty [Johnson] loves to birthday party," one PGA Tour source informed The Post.
"He?S usually lived fast," every other Tour supply informed The Post. "Maybe he realizes now it?S time to sluggish down."
A former golf teammate of Johnson’s at Coastal Carolina, who requested anonymity, said he has not spoken to Johnson in a few years but painted a picture to The Post of Johnson as "wild" in college, recalling Johnson "went at it so hard at parties that no one could keep up with him." NESN posted an article with several tweets from FOX Sports golf writer Robert Lusetich. About this latest failed drug test he tweeted:
But the newshounds were only getting started. As you might expect, the UK sites had a blast with this and the Daily Mail site posted this article which added the following:
In 2001, a then 16-year-vintage Johnson and 4 different young adults had been involved in a housebreaking during which considered one of them took a gun.
Johnson became later bullied into the use of faux ID to buy bullets for the gun at Wal-Mart by using a friend's menacing older brother Steve Gillian.
Later that month Gillian become charged with murder after taking pictures a person named Jason Ward a couple of times within the head. Gillian was convicted of murder and acquired a life sentence.
Johnson had to pay restitution for the burglary and to testify at the trial. In 2009 he was pardoned by the state of South Carolina. This is apparently true. Dustin himself referred to this in a 2010 interview with Golf Magazine. He didn't go into great detail, but the forced purchase of bullets is discussed.
The golf.com article also claimed that DJ "is also known to have had a sexual indiscretion with at least one wife of a PGA Tour player." FOX Sports golf writer Robert Lusetich says that it was actually 2 PGA Tour wives:
If you read any of the articles, you'll also find references to a Butch Harmon interview where Butch says he and Dustin had "a come-to-Jesus conversation about getting his personal life in order." That came from this 2011 interview with SI reporter Alan Shipnuck. (I need to thank Stephanie Wei for that link. Thanks, Steph!) So it appears that DJ has been struggling with a variety of issues for quite a while.
But that wasn't the quit of the tale. About two-and-a-half hours after the initial golf.Com article, cbssports.Com ran a statement from the PGA Tour that virtually said:
"With regard to media reviews that Dustin Johnson has been suspended via the PGA Tour, that is to clarify that Mr. Johnson has taken a voluntary go away of absence and is not beneath a suspension by the PGA Tour."A few hours later Steve DiMeglio at usatoday.com posted a similar report that was blunt. In his words:
On Friday, Golf.Com said that Johnson had been suspended for 6 months. A few hours later, the PGA Tour said the document turned into wrong.So just what IS the truth here? Assuming that the reports of the failed drug test are true, it's entirely possible that DJ and the Tour negotiated a mutually beneficial agreement. After all, Dustin is a very popular player among fans; a "black eye" like this doesn't do him or the Tour any good at all. Given Lusetich's tweet about DJ's shock at having failed the drug test, the Tour may have agreed to forego a suspension if DJ agreed to seek help on his own. Don't forget, Dustin has Wayne Gretzky in his corner. If the Great One got involved and agreed to help him get help -- DJ is marrying his daughter, after all -- that may have been enough of a guarantee for the Tour to consider a less drastic compromise.
Likewise, lacking the Ryder Cup indicates that at least months of rehab is deliberate... Or possibly that too is a part of an settlement, a "penalty" for misbehavior with a purpose to clearly remain in DJ's reminiscence for a long term. Few things stick in a participant's craw like the feeling that he allow his crew down, and it's difficult to consider that DJ should feel every other manner proper now.
I have trouble believing the PGA Tour might trouble a fake declaration about this, so it sounds to me as though some form of agreement between the 2 events changed into reached. But if I'm wrong and DJ has indeed been suspended for 6 months, it approach we won't see him again till the quit of January... Which also approach he may not be protecting his identify at the WGC in China this November.
Of path, depending on how lengthy his rehab takes, he may leave out it besides. We'll simply need to be patient what happens.
This is the kind of stuff I hate to write down about. Let's just desire DJ a rapid healing and a speedy go back to the game.
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