The PGA Tour will be an hour from Myrtle Beach, and Dustin Johnson will be there

Dustin Johnson, the world’s top-ranked player, informed tournament officials on Thursday that he is committed to play in the Wells Fargo Championship in three weeks at Eagle Point Golf Club in Wilmington, N.C.

The Coastal Carolina University alumnus and Columbia native withdrew from the Masters last week after he said he took a spill last Wednesday on a wet set of three stairs while going outside of his rental home in Augusta, Ga., in socks to move a car and landed hard on his back and left elbow.

He hit balls on the Augusta National Golf Club range for less than an hour last Thursday before determining minutes before his first-round tee time that his back injury was too severe to play.

Johnson’s agent, David Winkle of Hambric Sports Management, said Johnson’s condition continues to improve daily and no serious damage was discovered.

The Wells Fargo is expected to be Johnson’s first tournament since he won the WGC-Dell Match Play Championship on April 2. He said upon his withdrawal last week that prior to his injury he had planned to take three weeks off following the Masters.

If his first event is from May 4-7 at Eagle Point, which is just over a one-hour drive from Myrtle Beach, Johnson will be vying to be the first player since Tiger Woods over the 2007-08 seasons to win four straight PGA Tour starts.

Johnson won the Genesis Open at Riviera Country Club on Feb. 19 and the WGC-Mexico Championship on March 5 prior to his match play victory, giving him six wins since June, including the U.S. Open, three World Golf Championship events and a FedExCup playoffs event. Johnson has 15 PGA Tour wins since joining the tour in 2008.

The $7.5 million Wells Fargo is expected to be the first of three tournaments Johnson will enter, as it is followed by the $10.5 million Players Championship at TPC Sawgrass in Ponte Vedra Beach, Fla., and $7.5 million AT&T Byron Nelson at TPC Four Seasons Resort in Irving, Texas.

The 15th Wells Fargo is being held at Eagle Point this year because its usual home venue, Quail Hollow Club in Charlotte, N.C., is hosting the PGA Championship in August. The tournament will return to Quail Hollow Club in 2018.

Johnson has played in the Wells Fargo Championship only three times, the last in 2011.

With Johnson’s commitment, six players among the top-20 in the world have already committed to compete in the tournament including, No. 11 Adam Scott, No. 12 Alex Noren, No. 13 Jon Rahm, No. 14 Patrick Reed and No. 20 Phil Mickelson.

This story was originally published April 13, 2017 at 1:21 PM with the headline "The PGA Tour will be an hour from Myrtle Beach, and Dustin Johnson will be there."