Hot News: In Line for Spot on Ryder Cup Team, Dustin Johnson Takes a Leave

AKRON, Ohio - Dustin Johnson, who won his first start of the PGA Tour's wraparound season and was poised to compete for the United States in the Ryder Cup, is out of the game for the foreseeable future. In a statement released Thursday by his management company, Johnson said he was taking a leave of absence from professional golf 'to seek professional help for personal challenges I have faced.'

Johnson, 30, withdrew earlier in the week from the World Golf Championships at Firestone Country Club. His agent, David Winkle of Dallas-based Hambric Sports Management, informed Ted Bishop, president of the P.G.A. of America, that Johnson would not participate in next week's P.G.A. Championship, the year's final major, or the Ryder Cup in Gleneagles, Scotland.

With two events remaining until the top nine spots are finalized for the Ryder Cup, Johnson was fifth in the points standings. In his absence, Patrick Reed, who is 10th, will now occupy the final spot. Before Johnson's statement was released, Reed carded a three-under-par 67 in the opening round of the Bridgestone Invitational here.

Without divulging the root of his distress, Johnson, an eight-time PGA Tour winner, said, 'By committing the time and resources necessary to improve my mental health, physical well-being and emotional foundation, I am confident that I will be better equipped to fulfill my potential and become a consistent champion.'

It is the second time in three years that Johnson has been off the tour for an extended length of time.

He missed nearly three months in the spring of 2012, ascribing his absence to injuries sustained in a Jet Ski accident.

'I knew he withdrew this week, but definitely shocked,' said Rickie Fowler, who described Johnson as one of his best friends on the tour.

'I haven't been in touch with him,' Fowler added. 'So hopefully, he can get everything straightened out.'

Did a broken engagement with his fiancée, Paulina Gretzky, precipitate his latest leave? Is Johnson's indefinite departure voluntary, or was he suspended by the PGA Tour? Because the tour does not make fines or suspensions public, speculation filled the information vacuum.

'We have nothing to add to Dustin's statement,' the tour said in a news release, 'but we wish him well and look forward to his return to the PGA Tour in the future.'

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