Dustin Johnson emerged from a six-month exile as a better golfer and a better man

Mystery still shrouds the exact reason why Dustin Johnson decided to take a self-imposed six-month exile from the game halfway through last year but the American says there’s one fact that cannot be disputed – that he has emerged from the experience a far better man.

Headlines seem to have picked up a habit of following the 31-year-old Johnson around, whether it be for his sheer talent and prodigious hitting, or for the rumours of drug taking and philandering he has always vehemently denied. So that sabbatical no doubt served many purposes – one of them being the chance to escape public scrutiny - and Johnson has since been keen to focus on the positives of the experiences he has been through.

Come this month’s US$2 million UBS Hong Kong Open and Hong Kong fans will get their first taste of Johnson in the flesh – and he’s promising we’ll get to see a man who has his feet planted firmly on the ground.

“I got to work a lot on my game, my physical game in the gym,” Johnson says now of the break he took. “And then the birth of my son was by far the best thing that has ever happened to me. I think that completely changed my mind set in terms of things that were important before aren’t important any more. He’s the most important thing. So if I have a bad day on the golf course and I see him, it really doesn’t matter anymore.”

Tatum Gretzky Johnson was born on January 19 this year to Johnson and his partner Pauline Gretzky – daughter of ice hockey great Wayne – and whenever Johnson has been mentioned since, it has all been about the game.

And if anyone needs any reminding about what we can expect out at Fanling from October 22 to 25, take a look at Johnson making the green from the tee. On a par four. With a two iron.