News
A new breed of cover curse? Dustin Johnson withdraws
You’ve seen the contentious Paulina Gretzky Golf Digest “Fitness Issue” cover that’s been circulating around the web since yesterday.
If somehow you haven’t, check it out here.
But did you see what Ms. Gretzky’s fiance did on the course at the Shell Houston Open yesterday? Johnson’s performance was, in a word, bad.
Have a look.
D.J. went out in an abysmal 43 that included two double bogeys and a snowman (and two birdies). He was steadier on the back, until doubling No. 18 to vault him into the rarified 80-and-above territory.
Following the round, the No. 10-ranked player in the world withdrew without explanation. The opening 80 placed him in 144th position, dead last at the Golf Club of Houston.
So, you’ve heard of the “Sports Illustrated cover jinx.” Perhaps you’re familiar with the “Madden curse.” Johnson’s implosion at the Shell Houston Open invites the following question though: Is this the first instance of the “Fiance on Golf Digest’s cover curse?”
Further, are we OK with Johnson’s decision to bag it after a poor showing? Sure, players who WD during a round need to offer the Tour a medical rationale for their decision (remember Toothachegate last year?). However, when a guy decides to slam his trunk and take off after posting a high score, he doesn’t need to offer an explanation, medical or otherwise. Nevertheless, when he doesn’t, it’s difficult to feel sympathetic.
Perhaps Johnson is dealing with a medical issue. However, if I were him, his agent, or his PR firm, I’d want to make sure everyone was abundantly aware of the fact. Instead, without a clear rationale, we’re left to suspect he’s the victim of some sort of sorcery, or something even worse: a quitter.
With the second major of 2026 now behind us, the PGA Tour arrives in Texas for the CJ Cup Byron Nelson.
GolfWRX Tour Photographer, Greg Moore, is on site at TPC Craig Ranch in McKinney, Texas, and he’s already captured several WITBs and a look at some new colorways of just-spotted L.A.B. Golf VZN.1i putters.
Check out links to all our photos below.
General Albums
- 2026 CJ Cup Byron Nelson – Monday #1
- 2026 CJ Cup Byron Nelson – Monday #2
- 2026 CJ Cup Byron Nelson – Monday #3
WITB Albums
- Brennan Little (Gary Woodland’s caddy) – WITB – 2026 CJ Cup Byron Nelson
- Adam Svensson – WITB – 2026 CJ Cup Byron Nelson
- Martin Laird – WITB – 2026 CJ Cup Byron Nelson
- Lee Hodges – WITB – 2026 CJ Cup Byron Nelson
- Aaron Wise – WITB – 2026 CJ Cup Byron Nelson
- Dylan Wu – WITB – 2026 CJ Cup Byron Nelson
- AJ Ewart – WITB – 2026 CJ Cup Byron Nelson
Pullout Albums
- New Graphite Design Tour AD shafts – 2026 CJ Cup Byron Nelson
- L.A.B. Golf VZN.1i putters (new colors) – 2026 CJ Cup Byron Nelson
See what GolfWRXers are saying and join the discussion in the forums.
Aaron Rai upset the odds to win his first major championship on Sunday at Aronimink, firing a final round of 5-under par to see off his competitors and claim the winner’s check for $3,690,000.
Jon Rahm and Alex Smalley were the best of the chasing pack, with both men sharing runner-up spot which was good enough for each to receive a check for $1,804,000.
With a total prize purse of $20.5 million up for grabs, here’s a look at how much each player won at the 2026 PGA Championship.
Players who missed the PGA Championship cut each received $4,300 each.
1: Aaron Rai, $3,690,000
T2 : Jon Rahm, $1,804,000
T2 : Alex Smalley, $1,804,000
T4: Justin Thomas, $843,866
T4: Ludvig Aberg, $843,866
T4: Matti Schmid, $843,866
T7: Cameron Smith, $637,050
T7: Rory McIlroy, $637,050
T7: Xander Schauffele, $637,050
T10: Kurt Kitayama, $496,707
T10: Chris Gotterup, $496,707
T10: Justin Rose, $496,707
T10: Patrick Reed, $496,707
T14: Matt Fitzpatrick, $364,762
T14: Scottie Scheffler, $364,762
T14: Max Greyserman, $364,762
T14: Ben Griffin, $364,762
T18: Maverick McNealy, $229,128
T18: Jordan Spieth, $229,128
T18: Stephan Jaeger, $229,128
T18: Padraigh Harrington, $229,128
T18: David Puig, $229,128
T18: Harris English, $229,128
T18: Min Woo Lee, $229,128
T18: Joaquin Niemann, $229,128
T26: Nick Taylor, $125,523
T26: Alex Noren, $125,523
T26: Cameron Young, $125,523
T26: Andrew Novak, $125,523
T-26: Daniel Hiller, $125,523
T26: Tom Hoge, $125,523
T26: Sam Burns, $125,523
T26: Hideki Matsuyama, $125,523
T26: Bud Cauley, $125,523
T35: Christiaan Bezuidenhout, $78,805
T35: Patrick Cantlay, $78,805
T35: Ryo Hisatsune, $78,805
T35: Daniel Berger, $78,805
T35: Ryan Fox, $78,805
T35: Haotong Li, $78,805
T35: Aldrich Potgieter, $78,805
T35: Si Woo Kim, $78,805
T35: Martin Kaymer, $78,805
T44: Chris Kirk, $53,743
T44: Matt Wallace, $53,743
T44: Shane Lowry, $53,743
T44: Jhonattan Vegas, $53,743
T44: Denny McCarthy, $53,743
T44: Chandler Blachet, $53,743
T44: Taylor Pendrith, $53,743
T44: Dustin Johnson, $53,743
T44: Nicolai Hojgaard, $53,743
T44: Michael Kim, $53,743
T44: Kristoffer Reitan, $53,743
T55: Collin Morikawa, $34,186
T55: Corey Conners, $34,186
T55: Andrew Putnam, $34,186
T55: Brooks Koepka, $34,186
T55: Mikael Lindberg, $34,186
T60: Sami Valimaki, $29,218
T60: Sahith Theegala, $29,218
T60: Rico Hoey, $29,218
T60: Rickie Fowler, $29,218
T60: Brian Harman, $29,218
T65: Casey Jarvis, $26,900
T65: Jason Day, $26,900
T65: Rasmus Hojgaard, $26,900
T65: Keith Mitchell, $26,900
T65: Sam Stevens, $26,900
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Patrick Reed WITB 2026 (May)
Driver: Titleist GT3 (9 degrees) Buy here. Shaft: Aldila Rogue Silver 130 M.S.I. 70 TX 3-wood: TaylorMade Qi35 (15 degrees)...
Aaron Rai’s winning WITB: 2026 PGA Championship
Driver: TaylorMade M6 (9 degrees) Shaft: Aldilda Synergy Blue 70 TX 3-wood: TaylorMade Qi10 (15 degrees) Shaft: Fujikura Ventus Blue...
Michael Block WITB 2026 (May)
Driver: TaylorMade Qi4D (9 degrees) Shaft: Fujikura Ventus Black VeloCore+ 5 X 3-wood: TaylorMade Qi4D (15 degrees @14.25) Shaft: Mitsubishi...
Bryson DeChambeau WITB 2026 (May)
Driver: Krank Formula Fire Pro (6 degrees) Shaft: Project X Prototype 3-wood: Krank Formula Fire (10 degrees) Shaft: LA Golf BAD...
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corey
Apr 6, 2014 at 3:04 pm
if he was truly experiencing pain the entire round then what would it have hurt him to explain that in a simple tweet. however, since he didn’t we are all left to speculate and frankly i am more inclined to side with Ben on his reasons for the WD. He should be thinking about his fans and the impression it left on them when he WD with no explanation. he clearly had enough time to tweet/retweet stuff about paulina. what would it hurt him to tweet out a message that his back was the reason or something like that.
Tim Schoch
Apr 5, 2014 at 11:00 am
It’s the year of WDs. Seems PC to back out these days. Although, I will say, it looks like most of these players do have problems, like Day, Bubba, Mahan, Dustin, and of course Tiger. Still, I suspect they are doing too much of something–gym, reps, ping-pong.
Casey
Apr 5, 2014 at 9:47 am
He made a wise choice to WD if he really is experiencing pain. No use in making an injury worse by playing another round when he only has a week to be 100% for the Masters.
Mike
Apr 5, 2014 at 3:02 am
the only good thing about this article was the link to DJ’s fiancés cover shoot…
Chris
Apr 5, 2014 at 12:41 am
I sw her on the cover and immediately realized I did not need a new driver 🙂
nikkyd
Apr 4, 2014 at 4:29 pm
I can recall a mens league round last summer. I ate about 8 peices of fried chicken about a half hour before i teed off. I tell you what, stupid things can ruin your game. I shot a 54. And im an 8 hcp. Worst round in ages
Dirk
Apr 4, 2014 at 2:58 pm
Funny how all you clowns bash him but weren’t there. I was following that group yesterday cause Luke Donald is my favorite player and DJ was clearly in pain. He was stretching constantly and at one point the Dr came out on hole 4 to talk to him. Like a man he finished the round instead of withdrawing mid round. When I got home I watched it on TV and they didn’t show anything about that. So next time get all the facts before you open your mouths. On hole 11 Rory told DJ “take your time bro” when DJ said sorry for taking extra time stretching.
Greg
Apr 4, 2014 at 3:18 pm
Thanks for sharing this, stupid articles like this can escalate and ruin a guys fan base for no reason, DJ should have said why but he didn’t, doesn’t mean these writers should say he quit wow!!
steve
Apr 4, 2014 at 4:01 pm
If this is true, then why play at all. Withdraw and let someone else that play in your spot.
BS
Apr 5, 2014 at 3:29 am
Dude, he was able to FINISH the round. Which means, it wasn’t that bad. I mean come on – so you sprayed a few – it happens when you’re a bit tight and off-timing. But to withdraw on tightness AFTER you finished the whole round? Why not have just walked off after a couple more holes when you knew it would cause problems, or even after 9 holes? But to be able to finish and then withdraw? Bogus, I say.
Philip
Apr 5, 2014 at 3:53 pm
Because it is his job. I don’t know about anyone else here, but no matter how crappy I feel I push myself to the end of the day and if by the next morning I’m done before I start, then I’m not going to work.
They don’t know any other kind of work, their perspective is skewed a bit. Yes any of us would likely rather be playing golf, throwing up and in pain than at our regular jobs, especially if we are being paid for our efforts.
Mx
Apr 6, 2014 at 7:03 am
With Masters next week, he made a wise choice to finish the round and then wothdraw instead of being a douche and just walk off the course like tiger does it. He didnt want to disappoint the fans that were following him on that day. And DJ is a good sport. He tried his best to play well due to the pain or tightness or whatever.
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yo!
Apr 4, 2014 at 2:44 pm
For pro golfers with little desire, it’s easy to quit after shooting an 80
James
Apr 4, 2014 at 2:38 pm
Butterface, I just don’t wee what the big deal is about her. As for DJ, quitter…
RobN
Apr 4, 2014 at 2:54 pm
Butterface. No doubt!
Lippy
Apr 4, 2014 at 2:38 pm
She had such a bad lip job done, she looks terrible
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erkr
Apr 4, 2014 at 2:26 pm
She is very nice.
But why is she on the cover of Golf Digest? There are other mags for that. I lose respect for GD
Rancho Bob
Apr 4, 2014 at 1:54 pm
Pretty poor behavior on Johnson’s part, but no worse than Rory’s faux toothache. I’m sure there’s plenty of pros who would love to have his spot in the field. Grow a pair and at least try to make the cut.
Jeff
Apr 4, 2014 at 1:49 pm
She should be on every golf cover. Preferably in a bikini.
steve
Apr 4, 2014 at 1:39 pm
Dustin and Paulina a real high moral couple there.
J Duf
Apr 4, 2014 at 1:08 pm
Ive had trouble swinging since I saw that cover as well 🙂
Pappy
Apr 4, 2014 at 11:56 am
Does a mental issue count as a medical problem? lol
Ian Bainbridge
Apr 4, 2014 at 11:38 am
Bad back?? Difficult to refute. Or he just chucked it, mind you if you know you can’t make the cut and you have that girlfriend at home? I guess I would take time off and return for Masters 😉
Ben
Apr 4, 2014 at 10:54 am
he mad
The dude
Apr 4, 2014 at 11:11 am
About what??
Curt
Apr 4, 2014 at 10:29 am
Based on his fiance’s overflowing sexuality, he’s just not focused on the right things to make his golf game better. She may not be the best influence on his golf game!
As my dad use to say to me, “get your mind off that tail and back on your books!”
froneputt
Apr 4, 2014 at 10:22 am
This is truly a desperate attempt to make a mountain out of a molehill.
The GD cover is tasteful. Holly’s cover last year was tasteful. Next year’s will be … tasteful.
It’s about fitness, and nothing sells fitness like sexiness.
The dude
Apr 4, 2014 at 10:10 am
Really lame……