Dustin Johnson withdraws from Hero World Challenge

The famously intimate field at Tiger Woods’ Hero World Challenge just lost a big-name star. World No. 4 Dustin Johnson announced on Twitter that he elected to withdraw from the Bahamas event to continue physical therapy on his recently repaired knee in an effort to ensure that he is in top form for the upcoming Presidents Cup.

Johnson underwent arthroscopic knee surgery to repair cartilage damage to his left knee in early September. Though he maintains his recovery is complete, his Twitter announcement explained that he feels it’s in his best interest to withdraw from the Hero. “I have informed Captain Woods of my decision, which he fully supports and understands,” Johnson wrote.

Woods acknowledged Johnson’s withdrawal with a retweet of TGR Ventures’ announcement that Chez Reavie would be replacing Johnson. Reavie’s 2018-19 season was the best of his career, and included a win as well as six top-10 finishes.

Though Johnson had a win earlier this year at the WGC-Mexico Championship and was T2 at both the Masters and the PGA Championship, his form has been middling since. He missed his only cut of the year at June’s Rocket Mortgage Classic, and hasn’t finished better than T20 since the runner-up at the PGA.

The Presidents Cup is scheduled to be played on December 12-14 in Melbourne, Australia, and has been seemingly plagued by injuries this year, with Brooks Koepka and Jason Day recently bowing out and being replaced by Rickie Fowler and Byeong Hun An, respectively.

The Hero World Challenge begins on Wednesday, December 4, and concludes on Saturday, December 7.

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