The 2020 Olympics golf tournament has its first confirmed no-show: Dustin Johnson. The world No. 5 plans to focus instead on the FedEx Cup playoffs rather than pursue a gold medal in Tokyo in July.
Johnson’s manager, David Winkle, confirmed the decision to Golfweek on Monday. “Dustin gave the Olympics a great deal of thought and we discussed the pros and cons of him participating at length,” Winkle wrote in an e-mail.
“At the end of the day, it’s a matter of personal preference and priority. As much as he would be honored to be an Olympian, the FedEx Cup Playoffs are also very important to him. Having had a few close calls in the Playoffs, he really wants to win them before his time is done and feels that he wouldn’t be giving himself the best opportunity to do so if he added lengthy international trip just prior to their beginning (and shortly after returning from two weeks in Europe).”
Johnson will compete in the Open Championship July 16-19 at Royal St. George’s, where he almost won in 2011. The first round of the Olympics competition at Kasumigaseki Golf Club takes place July 30. The first FedEx Cup playoff event begins 11 days after the Olympics ends with the Northern Trust in Boston.
Four Americans will qualify to compete in the Games based on the world golf ranking. Currently Johnson is in the third team spot behind Brooks Koepka and Justin Thomas. Koepka himself recently downplayed the importance of the Olympics, saying he views golf’s four major championships and the FedEx Cup as more important to him.
“We’ll see where everything else falls,” Koepka said, suggesting that he might also skip the trip to Tokyo. With Johnson confirmed out and Koepka sounding ambivalent, that could mean two men not currently in the top four Americans might qualify to join Thomas and Patrick Cantlay in Japan: Webb Simpson and Patrick Reed, who are the fifth and sixth-ranked U.S. players. The seventh-ranked American on that list: Tiger Woods.
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