There's nothing golf fans love more than a comeback story. It also helps when the protagonist of that comeback story is Andrew “Beef” Johnston, who briefly became the most beloved player in the sport.
Johnston fell out of the top 2,000 in the Official World Golf Ranking in June this year, but in the second round of the D+D Czech Masters at PGA National Oaks Prague, he shot a course record 9-under 63. The English player is currently ranked 1,285th thanks to two top-40 finishes on the DP World Tour in July, with his last top-10 finish coming nearly three years ago at the 2021 Mallorca Golf Open.
The 35-year-old put his familiar and infectious smile on full display in his post-match interview:
Last month, the British Open was held at Royal Troon, the same venue that hosted the 2016 British Open. That week was Johnston's debut, and he finished eighth. Eight years later, he called it “the best week of his golf career.”
In the eight years since, Johnston has had a mixed bag. Poor form and injuries have caused him to wonder if his career is over. In 2019, he also spoke publicly about his struggles with mental health, writing a blog post for the DP World Tour website. In the post, Johnston cited a poll he saw that asked Americans, “Who are you most looking forward to seeing?” Johnston ranked higher in the poll than Tiger Woods.
“It was very difficult to comprehend that,” Johnston wrote at the time. “Then I put pressure on myself to perform well. I did. [T-27] I was really angry at the 2017 Open.”
Johnston has played in just three majors since the 2017 Open, one in which he withdrew (the 2017 PGA Championship), another in which he finished 62nd (the 2018 U.S. Open) and most recently in which he failed to make the cut (the 2019 Open). He played just eight DP World Tour events in 2020 due to the coronavirus pandemic, then had a solid season in 2021 but missed all of 2022 with a thumb injury that required multiple surgeries. He played just four tournaments worldwide in 2023.
The Czech Masters is Johnston's seventh start of 2024, and barring a disastrous weekend performance, this tournament will be his best result yet. Johnston has failed to qualify four times, finishing T-33 at the Italian Open and T-32 at the BMW International Open.
Johnston is currently one shot behind leader David Laviteau of France, who eventually tied Johnston's new course record at 13 under on Friday. They will play together in the final group in the third round on Saturday.
