Coastal Carolina alum Johnson’s late decision prepped him for Augusta

Players have different philosophies regarding playing or resting/practicing the week before a major championship. Dustin Johnson takes it case by case.

“It just depends how the schedule is,” Johnson said. “I’m about 50-50: I play before half of them and don’t play before half of them. It doesn’t matter whether I play or don’t play. I’ve done well without playing and I’ve done well playing.”

Johnson is coming off a third-place finish in the Shell Houston Open and didn’t decide to enter the tournament until he lost his initial match in the round-robin portion of the previous week’s WGC Dell Match Play to Robert Streb. He rallied to win his four-player pod and won another match to tie for fifth, so he played longer than he initially thought he might.

But he welcomed the extra rounds in Houston before the Masters, nonetheless.

“I felt like I needed to get some more reps in before I came here,” Johnson said. “I ended up having a great week in Austin, but at the time I decided I just didn't feel like my game was in that great of shape. It ended up coming into form that week, and then continued it into last week.”

Johnson traveled from Austin to Augusta for three days of practice last Sunday through Tuesday, then returned to Texas for the Houston Open.

This story was originally published April 6, 2016 at 5:47 PM with the headline "Coastal Carolina alum Johnson’s late decision prepped him for Augusta."