Dustin Johnson could be the most important player to watch this week at Torrey Pines.
With Tiger Woods' trouble taking headlines, Johnson will start a comeback from "personal challenges" that derailed him last year.
Those human foibles, Johnson acknowledges, involved vodka. Whispers suggest his departure from competition last year also involved a six-month PGA suspension, but Johnson denies such punishment.
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All we know is Johnson is playing a Tour event for the first time since late July, with four weeks of competition ahead. Reports say preparations this week in San Diego show Johnson is good to go, albeit admittedly rusty, for the Farmers Insurance Open.
When last we saw Johnson, he was having a terrific season. He won once in 17 starts, and his seven other top-10 finishes included two seconds. His winners topped $4 million.
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But personal demons got the best of Johnson.
"My way of getting rid of (stress) was drinking or partying," Johnson told Sports Illustrated. "Yeah, that might work for that day or the next week, but eventually everything keeps piling up. … The mentality of being invincible is great when I'm playing golf. But where I was struggling was when I wasn't playing golf."
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The bottle won the battle, and now Johnson is winning the war. He told SI:
"Over these past four of five months I've really grown up, and I'm starting to become the person I want my kids to look up to."
He and Pauline Gretzky became parents in January, and his fiancee's hockey-hero father helped him. Johnson and Wayne Gretzky spent quality time on the course. Fatherhood is a sobering experience.
"Now, being a father just puts things in perspective," Johnson told The Golf Channel. "I love playing the game, but I've got things that are a lot more important now. It actually takes a bit more pressure off the golf. It's just fun to be a part of his life."
"He" is son Tatum.
Johnson, 30, hits the course Thursday afternoon at Torrey Pines. He is in a threesome with Justin Rose and Jason Day, a position one would expect for a player of Johsnon's talent. And he'll be on the South course, while Woods draws crowds on the North course.
It's a solid set-up for Johnson, whose return will be under the radar but worth watching.