AUGUSTA, Ga. – The Masters began Thursday with two ceremonial tee shots and one empty chair.

In a sombre tribute to Arnold Palmer, who died in September, Augusta National chairman Billy Payne escorted Palmer’s widow to the first tee for the honorary start. Payne also carried Palmer’s green jacket and draped it over a chair where Palmer had sat last April.

This is the first Masters without the King since 1954.

“The almost unbearable sadness we feel at the passing of Arnold is surpassed only by the love and affection for him that will always reside in our heart,” Payne said as thousands crammed around the first tee on a crisp morning full of sunshine and wind.

Every fan through the gate received a button that said, “I am a member of Arnie’s Army.”

Payne asked for a moment of silence so everyone could remember their own experience with Palmer – did anyone in golf have more friends? – and then turned it over to Jack Nicklaus and Gary Player for the ceremonial tee shots.

Player, who jokingly asked for a mulligan at age 81, drilled one down the middle. Nicklaus got him by about 5 yards, though Player was quick to announce it as a tie.

That’s how it was among the “Big Three” – Palmer, Nicklaus and Player, whose 34 majors among them included one stretch in the 1960s in which they combined to win the Masters seven straight times. They were best of friends off the course and hated losing to one another on the course.

Palmer had been part of the honorary start since 2007. He was so feeble a year ago that he did not hit a drive, though he still came out to the first tee and watched from a chair.

That’s what stood out the most to Player.

“Arnold was a great stickler for manners, and I’ll never forget, which really reminded me on the first tee this morning,” Player said. “Arnold could hardly walk to the first tee and he put his arms like this, and he stood up like this.”

To demonstrate, Player placed his hands on the side of his chair and lifted himself up.

“Because he had been taught to stand up,” Player said. “And he gave a little wave, and that was very touching to me, and I could see him doing it in that chair today.”

Brad Dalke, the U.S. Amateur runner-up, didn’t tee off until 11:30 a.m. and wanted to be sure he was out under the oak tree to see the honorary start. Rickie Fowler and William McGirt were among the players who came out to watch.

“I wouldn’t want to miss this,” Dalke said.

The “Big Three” has been referenced in recent years whenever three players separate themselves, if only briefly. The original concept had as much to do with marketing because Palmer, Nicklaus and Player were managed by Mark McCormack at IMG and would travel the world competing in exhibitions.

But it was as much about friendship.

“There will be other ‘Big Threes,’ but I don’t know if you’ll ever have another ‘Big Three’ that will live together like we did,” Player said. “I was in Jack’s home for weeks, and Arnold was in my home and Jack visited my farm time and time again. I was in their airplane. We really lived our life together. … Now, will that happen again with three guys? Possibly, I don’t know.

“It’s hard to be highly competitive against people and have a great friendship,” Player said. “And yet I sit here today and Jack Nicklaus is my best friend in the world.”

And they still are competitive, even after one shot.

Nicklaus was asked if he hit his driver farther than Player.

“Well, the official word was that it was a little past,” Nicklaus said “But Gary is claiming a tie.”

AUGUSTA, Ga. – Dustin Johnson withdrawing from the Masters was shocking enough. Then Charley Hoffman delivered a surprise of his own.

In a raging wind that left most players celebrating anything around par, Hoffman ran off seven birdies over his last 11 holes Thursday for a 7-under 65 that gave him a four-shot lead over Masters newcomer William McGirt.

So tough was Augusta National in gusts that approached 40 mph that Hoffman and McGirt were the only players who broke 70. Hoffman didn’t have reason to believe he would be one of them after a pair of three-putt bogeys early in the round.

“After that, I can’t remember missing a putt,” he said.

Hoffman’s four-shot lead was the largest at the Masters for the opening round since Jack Burke Jr. had a four-shot lead in 1955.

Lee Westwood, who has the credentials as the best player to have never won a major, ran off five straight birdies late in the afternoon and salvaged a 70. Only eight other players broke par, a group that included Phil Mickelson, Olympic gold medallist Justin Rose and Sergio Garcia.

Rory McIlroy, needing only a green jacket to complete the career Grand Slam, used a nifty short game to stay in the mix. He saved two tough pars after missing the green in the wrong spots on Nos. 10 and 11, ran off three birdies in the middle of the back nine, and closed with another good par save for a 72.

Johnson never got a chance to see how he would fare.

Just under 24 hours before the world’s No. 1 player was to set out in search of a fourth straight victory, he was headed downstairs at the home he is renting to move his car in a downpour when he slipped while wearing socks and landed on his left elbow and lower back.

He tried to play. He wanted to play. Even after warming up, when he felt pain upon impact on two out of every three swings, he headed to the putting green to give it a shot. But that’s as far as Johnson got. Instead of going to the first tee, he took a sharp right toward the clubhouse and soon was on his way home.

“I can’t do it,” Johnson said. “I don’t feel there’s any chance of competing.”

Adam Hadwin of Abbotsford, B.C., shot 3 over in his Masters debut while 2003 winner Mike Weir of Brights Grove, Ont., was 4 over. Mackenzie Hughes of Dundas, Ont., also in his debut, shot 79.

There have been four other players at No. 1 in the world who didn’t play a major. But none as abruptly as this when at the top of their game. Johnson had won his last three tournaments and was the betting favourite at the Masters.

Worse yet, he expects his back to feel good enough to play by the weekend.

“If it would have happened on Monday, I don’t think we’d have any issues. But it happened Wednesday,” he said. “To have a freak accident happen, it sucks. It sucks really bad.”

Not having Johnson around didn’t make the Masters any easier.

The wind was so strong that it blew golf balls some 6 feet on the greens as Adam Scott and defending champion Danny Willett were getting ready to putt.

The par-5 15th hole, historically the easiest at Augusta National, was the ninth hardest because of strong gusts and a back pin. No need to explain that to Jordan Spieth. One shot spun back into the water. Another shot went well over the green. He made a quadruple-bogey 9 and shot 75.

“If you catch the wrong gust at the wrong time, then you look stupid, like I did on 12,” Thomas Pieters said. “But that’s just Augusta, I guess.”

Pieters reached 5 under until a pair of double bogeys on the back nine, including the par-3 12th, that sent him to a 72.

McGirt, who qualified for his first Masters by winning the Memorial last year, thought he had a good omen when he saw Jack Nicklaus on Wednesday and the six-time Masters champion told him that Augusta and Muirfield Village had enough similarities that McGirt would be fine.

He made only one bogey, had a few tough par saves and a few birdies and shot 69.

Hoffman just never stopped making birdies.

Right about the time McGirt was talking about how cool it was to see his name atop the leaderboard, Hoffman birdied the 14th to reach 4 under. He picked up another birdie on the 15th with a delicate wedge shot. His 7-iron on the par-3 16th ran down the ridge to a few feet for a third straight birdie. And feeling like he could do no wrong, Hoffman hammered a pitching wedge to 3 feet on the 17th for a fourth straight birdie.

His approach to the 18th was headed for the bunker when it hit the side of it by a few inches and caromed onto the green. His 15-foot birdie missed by an inch.

“I step on this property and it just feels special,” Hoffman said.

It helps to see the ball go into the cup.

Adam Hadwin (Abbotsford, B.C.) lead the Canadian trio on the day, carding a 3-over 75 to sit in a tie for 41st. 2003 Masters Champion Mike Weir of Brights Grove, Ont., shot a 4-over 76 to sit T54. Mackenzie Hughes, reigning RSM Classic champion, struggled with a 7-over 79–he sits T86.

AUGUSTA, Ga. – Dustin Johnson arrived at Augusta National on quite a roll, having won his last three tournaments.

He never even took a shot at the first major of the year.

The world’s No. 1-ranked player was forced to withdraw from the Masters on Thursday because of a lower back injury suffered less than 24 hours earlier in a freak fall at the home he was renting for the week.

“I want to play,” Johnson said. “I just can’t swing.”

He certainly tried, arriving at the club about two hours before he was scheduled to tee off in the final group of the opening round with two-time Masters champion Bubba Watson and PGA Championship winner Jimmy Walker.

Johnson took some easy swings on the practice range, headed back inside for additional treatment, and then broke out his longer irons and the driver to see how the back reacted.

He was clearly in pain, rubbing the area several times and letting his caddie tee up the ball so he didn’t have bend over. After an extended conversation with his coach, Butch Harmon, Johnson started walking toward the first tee.

His intention was to play.

His back wouldn’t let him.

“It sucks,” Johnson said. “I’m playing the best golf of my career. This is one of my favourite tournaments of the year. Then a freak accident happened (Wednesday) when I got back from the course. It sucks. It sucks really bad.”

Johnson got as far as the putting green between the clubhouse and the first tee. After about a half-dozen putts, he pulled out an iron and took a few more half-hearted practice swings.

Walker and Watson headed toward the tee.

Johnson went the opposite way.

“I was doing everything I could to try to play,” he said. “Last night, it was ice, heat, ice. I was up pretty much all night trying to get it ready for today. I had it worked on all morning. Obviously, I can make some swings. But I can’t make my normal swing.”

This Masters was over for Johnson before it even began, a stunning development that removed the favourite for the green jacket .

“It’s disappointing, for sure, for everybody,” 2013 champion Adam Scott said. “To pull out of the Masters when you’re in the kind of form he’s in, it must be a very difficult decision to make. Hopefully he gets better quick.”

Two-time major champion Jordan Spieth realized Johnson was out of the tournament when his name was removed from the scoreboard.

“As a friend of his and somebody who’s played a lot of golf with him, I know this: It must really, really not be good in order for him not to tee it up,” Spieth said.

The injury occurred Wednesday after Johnson returned to his rental home from a morning practice session at Augusta National. On the way outside to move his car, and wearing socks but no shoes, he slipped on a short staircase.

“It would have been better if it was full set of stairs. I would have slid all the way down,” Johnson said. “But there were only three steps. I landed on my left side. My left elbow is sore and bruised. My lower left back took the brunt of it.”

He doesn’t think the injury is serious.

In fact, if it had happened earlier in the week, he probably would’ve been able to play.

“I feel like in two days, I’ll be fine,” Johnson said.

He had been scheduled to attend the Golf Writers Association of America annual dinner Wednesday night to accept its award as male player of the year. Johnson was coming off a season in which he captured his first major at the U.S. Open , was voted PGA Tour player of the year for the first time, won the PGA Tour money title and captured the Vardon Trophy for the lowest adjusted scoring average.

Freak injuries are not unprecedented in golf.

Two years ago, Rory McIlroy was playing soccer when he ruptured ligaments in his ankle a few weeks before he was to defend his title in the British Open at St. Andrews as the No. 1 player in the world.

Johnson missed the 2012 Masters, withdrawing two days before the start of the tournament, saying he had tweaked his back from pulling a jet ski out of the water. Golf.com cited an unnamed source two years later as saying Johnson had been suspended for a positive cocaine test. His management denied that he had been suspended.

Since then, Johnson had gotten his life and his game in order.

The 32-year-old American rose to No. 1 in the world rankings and became the first player in more than 40 years to enter the Masters on a three-tournament winning streak. Two of those titles were World Golf Championships, and his undefeated week at the Match Play made him the first player to capture all four of the WGCs.

Johnson headed into the first major of 2017 accompanied by as much hype as perhaps anyone since Tiger Woods in his prime – “a freak of nature,” in the words of Rickie Fowler.

“I’ve got a lot of confidence in my game right now, especially with the way I’ve been playing the last few tournaments,” Johnson said Tuesday. “But, you know, anything can happen.”

Just not what anyone expected.

It got a lot harder Wednesday afternoon when Dustin Johnson, the betting favourite and No. 1 player in the world, took a serious fall down a staircase at his rented home and wasn’t sure he could even tee it up at Augusta National.

His agent, David Winkle at Hambric Sports Management, said Johnson landed “very hard on his lower back.” He was treating it with ice and medication and told to remain immobile. Winkle said Johnson hopes to be able to play.

He was scheduled for the last group Thursday at 2:03 p.m.

The Westgate Las Vegas SuperBook immediately dropped the odds of Johnson winning from 11-2 to sharing the top billing at 7-1 with Jordan Spieth and Rory McIlroy.

Telling were the comments Johnson had made on Tuesday, when he was talking about the state of his game after three straight victories.

“I’ve got a lot of confidence in my game right now, especially with the way I’ve been playing the last few tournaments,” Johnson said. “But, you know, anything can happen.”

That’s true at just about every Masters, though the mishaps typically occur on the golf course.

Johnson’s status only adds to the mystery at the year’s first major.

The Masters has the smallest field, with just 94 players, and that’s before history starts eliminating about 40 per cent of them.

No amateur has ever won the Masters, and five of them are in the field this year. There are 19 players at Augusta National for the first time, and not since 1979 has a Masters rookie (Fuzzy Zoeller) left with a green jacket. No one older than 46-year-old Jack Nicklaus has won the Masters, so that wipes out 11 more players.

No one has ever won his first tournament at the Masters, which doesn’t bode well for Roberto Castro or Kevin Chappell. And only three players since the Masters began in 1934 have ever won back to back. Sorry, Danny Willett.

So who does that leave?

The obvious choices would be Johnson (presuming he recovers), McIlroy or Jason Day, the top three players in the world. Impossible to overlook is Spieth, who has never finished worse than runner-up in his three Masters appearances.

But in the last 10 years, only one player from among the top three in the world ranking won the Masters _ Phil Mickelson (3) in 2010.

“That’s what makes the golf course wonderful actually, and what a great tournament it is,” Nicklaus said. “Because you really never know what’s going to happen. Even the players, as good as they might be, don’t know what’s going to happen.”

For the second time in three days, the course was shut down for the afternoon by severe weather. Thousands of fans headed to the exit at 10 a.m. as a storm approached, and while the gates opened again at 12:30 p.m. for the Par 3 Contest, the fun was suspended an hour later when another storm arrived.

The curtain rises on the 81st Masters on Thursday with a course that figures to be softened by rain, which could be good news for McIlroy. It could also be confounding because of wind that always feels stronger than it really is among the Georgia pines, which could be bad news for McIlroy.

This Masters offers something for just about everyone.

For Johnson, it’s an opportunity to pronounce his dominance in the game this year. Not since Hubert Green in 1976 has a player won three straight tournaments going into the Masters. Green tied for 19th that year. The only player to make the Masters his fourth straight victory was Jimmy Demaret. That was in 1940.

For McIlroy, it’s another chance to complete the Grand Slam. He could have won the Masters six years ago until a tee shot behind the cabins, a four-putt and all sorts of blunders on the back nine led to an 80 in the final round.

Augusta National at times can favour emotion. Who can forget Ben Crenshaw winning just days after he was a pallbearer at swing coach Harvey Penick’s funeral?

That might bode well for Day, who said he wasn’t entirely sure he was going to play a few weeks ago when he brought his mother from Australia to America to have surgery for lung cancer. Odds for a recovery suddenly are much stronger, and Day has said her health has been on his mind all year.

“I owe everything to her,” Day said.

And for Spieth, there is a chance to erase a bad memory of his back-nine meltdown a year ago.

“We’ll step out and try and get a chance to win on Sunday on the back nine again,” Spieth said. “That’s all we’re asking for. That’s it. Just that small little piece.”

Johnson can only ask for a chance to play.

AUGUSTA, Ga. – Masters favorite Dustin Johnson took a serious fall on a staircase Wednesday and injured his lower back, and his manager said it was uncertain whether the world’s No. 1 golfer would be able to play the tournament.

It was a stunning development on an otherwise quiet day at Augusta National, where the course was shut down at 1:30 p.m. because of storms.

The real calamity struck a few hours later.

David Winkle, his manager at Hambric Sports, said Johnson fell on the stairs at the home he is renting in Augusta.

“He landed very hard on his lower back and is now resting, although quite uncomfortably,” Winkle said in an email. “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.”

What might help Johnson is that he is in the last group for the opening round, scheduled to tee off at 2:03 p.m. with two-time Masters champion Bubba Watson and PGA champion Jimmy Walker.

Johnson had been scheduled to attend the Golf Writers Association of America annual dinner Wednesday night to accept its award as male player of the year. He was coming off a season in which he won the U.S. Open for his first major, was voted PGA Tour player of the year for the first time, won the PGA Tour money title and captured the Vardon Trophy for the lowest adjusted scoring average.

Rickie Fowler this week described the 32-year-old American as a “freak of nature.”

Winkle on Tuesday said Johnson was in “as good a shape as I’ve ever seen him in every aspect of his game and his life.”

Johnson has had his share of mishaps in a major but not before a major even started.

Two years ago, Rory McIlroy was playing soccer when he ruptured ligaments in his ankle a few weeks before he was to defend his title in the British Open at St. Andrews when he was No. 1 in the world.

But this was far different.

Johnson rose to No. 1 in the world starting with the first of three straight victories, the first player to do that going into the Masters in more than 40 years. Two of those titles were World Golf Championships, and his undefeated week at the Match Play made him the first player to capture all four of the WGCs.

Johnson was at Augusta National on Wednesday to play nine holes before the first wave of storms moved in.

“I’ve got a lot of confidence in my game right now, especially with the way I’ve been playing the last few tournaments,” he said Tuesday. “But, you know, anything can happen.”

The Westgate Las Vegas SuperBook reacted swiftly to Johnson’s injury. Johnson was an 11-2 betting favorite going into the Masters. An hour after the news broke, he was reduced to 7-1 along with McIlroy and Jordan Spieth.

Johnson also missed the 2012 Masters, withdrawing two days before the start of the tournament, saying he had tweaked his back from pulling a jet ski out of the water. Golf.com cited an unnamed source two years later as saying Johnson had been suspended for a positive cocaine test. His management denied that he had been suspended.

Winkle said he would not have any further comment until he knew more about Johnson’s condition.

If he cannot play, there are no alternates at the Masters.

2003 #themasters champion @MikeWeir made a hole-in-one on No. 4 before weather caused the Par 3 Contest to be canceled. pic.twitter.com/ULssErcboW

— Masters Tournament (@TheMasters) April 5, 2017

Former Masters champion and Canadian Mike Weir wasn’t going to let any rain put a damper on his day at Augusta National. The Brights Grove, Ont., product aced No. 4 during Wendesday’s par-3 contest with a nice touch of back spin.

AUGUSTA, Ga. – Jack Nicklaus compared his sixth and last Masters title at age 46 to catching lightning in a bottle. If Phil Mickelson has his way, he’ll put an end to the myth that lightning never strikes the same place twice.

“I don’t think much about age right now,” said Mickelson, a three-time Masters champion who turns 47 in June. “I think that guys’ careers are being extended a lot longer because of the way fitness has taken over.

“And it’s not like I’m a pillar of fitness,” he chuckled, “but I spend a decent enough time to be able to physically perform and practice and play the way I’d like to play. You look at guys like (59-year-old) Bernhard Langer who was in the second-to-last group last year – I don’t feel as though age is as big a factor as it was decades ago.”

No less an authority than Nicklaus himself believes Lefty may be onto something.

“Phil is far better prepared than I (was). I don’t think he’s probably playing his best golf right now but sometimes that changes very quickly,” Nicklaus said. “Honestly, age is not an issue to him. He’s a big guy and he’s a long guy and he’s got a great short game. I wouldn’t be a bit surprised to find him in contention.”

One other thing tilting in Mickelson’s favour is the weather. Overcast skies and winds gusting up to 40 mph are forecast for the first two rounds.

“That’s going to magnify the misses for a lot of players, which means that you need to miss it in the correct spots,” Mickelson said. “Even though you might miss it big, if you’re in the right spot, you can take advantage of your short game and salvage a lot of pars … where players less experienced with the golf course will possibly miss it in the wrong spots and shoot themselves out.”

Mickelson might have included himself in that last group a dozen years ago, when he wore the “best-player-never-to-win-a-major” label like a scarlet letter. But after going 0 for 42 in the biggest events of an otherwise successful career, his breakthrough win came at Augusta National in 2004. Now, he’s viewed by the up-and-coming generation as one of the game’s wise, old heads with five majors in the trophy case.

What hasn’t changed is Mickelson’s desire .

“I think the last year and a half, I’ve worked really hard to get my game back to the level that I expect and the level that I’ve strived for,” he said. “If I can play anywhere close to the way I played at the British Open last year and the Ryder Cup, I should be able to give myself a good opportunity for Sunday.”

Those preparations may have been hampered by Mickelson’s ties to renowned Las Vegas sports gambler and golf hustler Billy Walters, who is facing multiple counts of securities fraud in federal court. Prosecutors contend Walters received inside information from a former Dean Foods executive and passed it along to Mickelson before the golfer purchased nearly 200,000 shares of the company’s stock on consecutive days in July 2012.

Mickelson made a $930,000 profit selling the stock a week later, prosecutors alleged, a sum he’s agreed to pay back with interest. According to the New York Post, court documents also revealed that Mickelson paid a gambling debt of nearly $2 million to Walters.

Mickelson has not been charged and was listed as a witness for the defence. He has said he will not be called to testify. Walters has denied any wrongdoing, and his lawyer told the court that if called, Mickelson would invoke his Fifth Amendment right against self-incrimination.

Mickelson wasn’t asked directly about the trial at the beginning of what will be his 25th appearance at the Masters. But his answer to a question about “compartmentalizing things happening off thegolf course” hinted at how he handles similar situations.

“The great thing about golf is that to be successful and to play a good round, you have to really dive in mentally, physically, and be committed to each shot, to the round, and it takes your focus away from anything else that might be going on,” Mickelson said. “So if you are going through a tough time, golf is a great place to be, because it allows you the freedom to focus on what you want to do at hand and it’s a real positive.

“I love everything about my job,” he added, “and that’s just another thing that I love about it.”

With Canada 150 celebrations happening in communities from coast-to-coast all year long, the Canadian golf industry has partnered with ParticipACTION in designating Sunday, May 28 as Get Out and Golf Day.

The ParticipACTION 150 Playlist—introduced this year in honour of Canada 150—invites Canadians to participate in 150 activities throughout 2017 to celebrate Canada’s 150th birthday. As part of Get Out and Golf Day, avid players and new enthusiasts are encouraged to participate in a round of golf (No.14 on the Play List), learn more about the sport or take part in golf related activities at golf facilities in their community.

Canadian golf industry partners including the National Golf Course Owners Association of Canada (NGCOA), PGA of Canada, Canadian Society of Club Managers, Canadian Golf Superintendents Association and Golf Canada in addition to Canada’s 10 provincial golf associations are all proudly supporting Get Out and Golf Day.

“Partnering with the ParticipACTION 150 Play List in designating May 28 as Get out and Golf Day is a great way to celebrate the tremendous health, social, charity and economic benefits golf delivers in communities from coast-to-coast,” said Golf Canada Interim CEO Jeff Thompson. “We’re proud to work with ParticipACTION and our Canadian golf industry partners to encourage heathy living through sport in honour of this great country.”

Participating golf facilities across Canada will be offering fun golf activities including tournaments, clinics, free golf for juniors, skills contests and more. For NCGOA Canada CEO Jeff Calderwood, the day provides an opportunity for golf facilities to build a connection with golfers and community sport enthusiasts.

“We’re excited to collaborate with our industry partners, ParticipACTION and most importantly the thousands of golf courses across the country as Canadians celebrate our nation’s 150^th Anniversary,” stated Jeff Calderwood, CEO, NGCOA Canada. “There is no better way to develop sense of community than hitting the links with family and friends.”

For new enthusiasts thinking about taking up the game or getting a loved one involved, PGA of Canada professionals at facilities across the country are ready to deliver a quality golf experience to players of all interests and abilities.

“The PGA of Canada is happy to join our Canadian golf industry partners in supporting ParticipACTION’s 150 Play List with Get Out and Golf Day,” said PGA of Canada CEO Gary Bernard. “I encourage everyone from coast-to-coast on May 28 to celebrate golf in Canada and take part in this great initiative.”

The sport of golf is proudly listed on the ParticipACTION 150 Play List in addition to other golf-related activities, disc golf and mini-putt. Whether it’s golf or other recreational activities, ParticipACTION wants Canadians of all ages to get active while celebrating our great country.

“The ParticipACTION 150 Play List is a physical-activity movement, inspiring and motivating Canadians everywhere to move more and sit less, and we are thrilled to have the Canadian golf industry’s support,” said Elio Antunes, President and CEO of ParticipACTION. “Modern life, with busy schedules, sedentary jobs, hours spent in front of screens and a love affair with convenience, has left little room for physical activity in everyday life. The ParticipACTION 150 Play List is helping Canadians sit less and move more by reminding us that being active is part of who we are.”

A snapshot of the Canadian golf landscape reveals an industry worth more than $14.3 billion annually to the Canadian economy. These numbers reinforce the massive financial, charitable, social, tourism and environmental impact golf has in communities across Canada.

As Canada’s most played sport, nearly 5.7 million Canadians enjoy more than 60 million rounds of golf annually at 2,346 golf facilities from coast-to-coast.

Visit golfcanada.ca/golfday for information on golf events occurring across the country on May 28 or use the hashtag #golfdaycanada to share your experiences on Get Out and Golf Day.

AUGUSTA, Ga. – The knock on Dustin Johnson was that he didn’t have what it takes between the ears to close out a major.

He looked as though he didn’t care, perhaps because a crushing loss didn’t appear to bother him as much as it should have. And in some corners, there was chatter that he needed to get someone other than his brother to be his caddie.

Now those are some of the reasons why Johnson is No. 1 in the world, and why he is such a strong favourite to win the Masters.

“He knows he can handle whatever gets in his way,” said Claude Harmon III, the swing coach who spends the most time at work with Johnson. “Now players feel like if he’s on the leaderboard, they can’t afford to make a mistake.”

Conversations paused under the oak tree next to Augusta National’s clubhouse Tuesday morning when Johnson sauntered toward the tee for another practice round. The way he has played the last two months – going back to his U.S. Open title last June, really – he has everyone’s attention.

Johnson is not one for conversation.

Mention that he is the first player in more than 40 years to arrive at the Masters having won his last three tournaments, and Johnson will shrug and say that his game is solid, he’s working hard and that he’s playing pretty well.

As for the additional pressure he faces being such a favourite?

“I don’t know,” Johnson said. “It’s the first time I’ve ever been the favourite.”

For all his power and athleticism, Johnson had never been in contention at Augusta National until last year. He was two shots out of the lead until a double bogey from the bunker on the 17th hole ended his hopes.

He still tied for fourth, his best finish ever, and it was enough for him to at least see that a green jacket was within reach.

More in his favour, however, is that Johnson can hit shots no one else does.

Typical of his career, the rise began with a fall. Johnson recalls having a chance to win the Cadillac Championship at Doral in March 2016 until hooking a tee shot in the water on No. 10 and making double bogey, and hitting a few more errant tee shots along the back nine.

That’s when he finally bought into what the Harmons – Butch Harmon and his son, Claude – had been suggesting. It was time to learn to hit a fade instead of a draw. It didn’t take long for him to figure that out. And it didn’t take long for players to notice.

“I heard he had switched to a fade, and then I saw it,” Zach Johnson said. “I said, ‘He’s going to win a lot of golf tournaments.’ There was control. There was spin. There was trajectory control. And then he won the U.S. Open.”

And he really hasn’t slowed since.

By the time the year was over, Johnson had swept all the PGA Tour awards, including player of the year. And he really hasn’t stopped, especially the last two months with victories at Riviera, Mexico Championship and the Dell Technologies Match Play.

Perhaps most frightening is that the better Johnson gets, the harder he works.

The more he wins, the less anyone talks about the 82 he shot in the final round of the 2010 U.S. Open at Pebble Beach, the two-shot penalty he received at Whistling Straits in the 2010 PGA Championship for grounding his club in sand without realizing it was a bunker or the 12-foot eagle putt that turned into a three-putt par on the final hole of the 2015 U.S. Open at Chambers Bay.

“I know everybody makes mistakes,” Johnson said. “But for me, I just felt like I’ve always learned from them and tried not to do them again. Even some of my losses in the majors, I try to take the positive out of it and learn from it and do better the next time.”

Butch Harmon laughs at the notion that Johnson lacks the right intelligence to be a major force. Keeping his mind clear might be his greatest asset.

“He’s like the cornerback who gets beat and acts like it never happened,” Harmon said. “Like three-putting from 12 feet. He told me once: ‘I never think about it. I can’t do anything about it, so why would I think about it?’ That mentality that the bad shot never happened is what Tiger had, is what Phil (Mickelson) has to have.”

Being the best in the world, however, has never guaranteed anyone a green jacket.

Woods in 2002 was the last player at No. 1 to win the Masters (Woods was at No. 2 when he won in 2005). Even when Woods was at his absolute best, it took only two bad holes in the opening round of the 2000 Masters to cost him five shots that he never made up.

“It’s a funny game,” Johnson said. “It doesn’t matter how good you’re playing, you can still not win. Same goes for this week. If I want to win here, everything is going to have to go well for me. I’m going to have to drive it well, hit my irons well, putt it well. I’ve got a lot of confidence in my game right now, especially with the way I’ve been playing the last few tournaments. But, you know, anything can happen.”

Mike Weir knows heading to The Masters for the first time can be overwhelming. When he made his first appearance, Weir was just starting to wield the hot hand that made him a star. He’d won for the first time the year previous, and had played Augusta National a couple of times in preparation for the tournament.

Weir heard all the talk – that you had to treat the tournament like any other PGA Tour stop. But that’s easier in theory than reality.

Read the full Global Golf Post article here.