Dustin Johnson to take leave of absence for 'personal challenges'

Dustin Johnson, who finished tied for 12th at The Open Championship earlier in the month, has announced that he is taking a leave of absence from the PGA Tour effective immediately. From Golf Channel's Jason Sobel:

As Sobel's last tweet notes, Johnson withdrew on Tuesday from this week's Bridgestone Invitational at Firestone without explanation. The 16th-ranked player in the world, Johnson is the only player in the top 50 who is not participating in the World Golf Championship event.

As for the personal problems, the only recent glimpse that the public has had into Johnson's private life was an Instagram post that he made regarding his 30th birthday celebration with fiancee - and controversial Golf Digest cover girl - Paulina Gretzky.

Johnson is currently fourth in the PGA Tour's FedEx Cup standings and fifth in the United States' Ryder Cup rankings. If his spot as an automatic qualifier for the U.S. team holds up for the rest of the season but he decides not to participate, his roster spot will go to the next player on the points list.

As for the PGA Tour's response to Johnson's statement, Sobel offered the following:

For his career, Johnson has earned over $24 million with eight PGA Tour victories.

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