Dustin Johnson cleared for Masters after battle with COVID-19

The PGA Tour has the world No. 1 back just in time. 

While speaking with reporters on Wednesday ahead of this week's Vivint Houston Open that precedes the Masters, Dustin Johnson confirmed that he will play at Augusta National Golf Club following his battle with COVID-19. 

"The only good thing that came out of this is I know I'm playing next week at the Masters," Johnson explained, per Bob Harig of ESPN. 

The Masters was postponed to the fall because of the coronavirus pandemic and begins Nov. 12. 

The 36-year-old, who hasn't played since the U.S. Open in September, first experienced coronavirus symptoms on the night of Oct. 11 and later tested positive for the virus. He missed the CJ Cup held at Shadow Creek Golf Course in Las Vegas and the Zozo Championship at the Sherwood Country Club in California while completing the necessary isolation period. 

"It's one of those things where, because I had no idea where I got it from, obviously I thought about it and tried to figure it out," Johnson said of contracting the virus. 

"I had every person that I had been around — people that have been in my house, any person that I would come in contact with, my friends, family, people that work for me — every single one of them got tested. Not Paulina [Gretzky, his partner], the kids, everybody, not one person had it.

"The only thing I can figure is I got it in Vegas just from — I don't even know how I got it there, but that's the only place I could have got it because not one person I was around had it. And nobody got it from me, either."

Harig added that Johnson, voted PGA Tour Player of the Year in September, only began hitting balls again last week. Despite that, he is a heavy favorite to win in Houston, as noted by Stephen Hennessey of Golf Digest.