our golf correspondent iain carter explained to me a short time ago what happened.received a statement from dustin johnson's management which states that he fell down the stairs at his rental home here in augusta and sustained a back injury. he is being treated for it. the advice he has received is to remain immobile overnight. he is taking anti—inflammatories and then a decision will be taken in the morning as to whether or not he will be able to tee off in the masters. he is the short odds over it for the masters. he has won the last three tournaments and has been the commanding presence on the golf tour so commanding presence on the golf tour so far this year. well, as iain carter was saying there, dustinjohnson has won his last three tournaments — and that's why he's the hot favourite to win the masters. speaking before his fall, johnson said he wasn't taking victory for granted — clearly aware that it's 12 years since a world number one, or pre—tournament favourite, last won the title. golf is a funny game, you know, it doesn't matter how good you are playing,

favourite to add a second major championship to the us open he won last year. 0ur golf correspondent iain carter

the sports rules are due to be simplified in 2019 and earlier our golf correspondent iain carter explainedhat this incident is typical of those that need to be addressed. the game is looking at the rules to bring ina the game is looking at the rules to bring in a new rulebook in 2019 and the minimum objective of that is to make the game fairer, easier to play and easier to understand. at the moment you have a situation where there are so many different ways of monitoring what is going on on the golf course. it's the responsibility of the playing partner to make sure that the rules are obeyed. there are trees on the course, there are referees watching video evidence, and yet there's still room for a television viewer to watch it on delayed to them have their say and force the kind of enquiry that we saw there, which makes it very cumbersome for the administration of the game and, as i say, the ultimate situation is that golf has been held up situation is that golf has been held up to ridicule, even though the right decision was ultimately made. practice for the first men's major championshi

the sports rules are due to be simplified in 2019 and earlier our golf correspondent iain carter explainedhe game is looking at the rules to bring ina the game is looking at the rules to bring in a new rulebook

earlier, our golf correspondent iain carter gave his assessment of what had happened.itoring what is going on on the golf course, it is the responsibility of a playing partner to make sure the rooms are obeyed. there are referees on the course, the referees watching video evidence and yet there is still room for a television viewer watching it on delay to then have their say and force the kind of enquiry that we saw, which makes it very cumbersome for the administration of the game and, asi for the administration of the game and, as i say, the ultimate situation is that golf has been held up situation is that golf has been held up to ridicule, even though the red decision was ultimately made. the new cricket season gets underway on friday with the opening round of county championship matches. despite a thrilling climax to the competition last year that saw middlesex crowned champions on the last afternoon, much of the pre—season talk has been about a new look t20 competition from 2020 featuring eight franchised teams. although some counties are likely to lose out as a