It only seems like yesterday Andrew 'Beef' Johnston was being serenaded with chants of 'C'mon Beef' at the Open. In 2016, the cheeky Londoner was a breakout star at the Royal Troon, heading into the final round of the Open in fourth place.
He would go on to finish T8 in the major while Henrik Stenson of Sweden would lift the Claret Jug in victory. Yet, the sport had fallen in love with Johnston, whose beaming smile, bristly beard and passion for all things beef saw him charmingly stick out amongst his chino wearing rivals.
But the added pressure he put on himself to perform and a severe injury to his thumb plunged Johnson into mental health issues. He is now on the comeback trail, competing in the DP World Tour.
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In 2019, the Finchley native revealed that his mental health struggles resulted in him pulling out of various tournaments. He divulged into his struggles in a blog he wrote for the European Tour. He said: "I came off the course on Sunday at the Nedbank Golf Challenge in November and couldn't even bring myself to go get my clubs from the locker. I just left them. I went straight back to the hotel and just cried. I nearly walked off the course at the Australian PGA Championship a few weeks later.
"It was the end of last year on the Gold Coast, I hit two bad shots, and I couldn't mentally handle it at all. I had no idea what was going on. I was so angry, so wound up, which is really unlike me. I came off there and cried. I knew then that something wasn’t right."
Things got even worse when he travelled to Singapore for surgery on a nasty thumb injury he suffered in 2021. He was feeling as low as low could be. During an interview with Robbie Savage for the DP World Tour, he added: "There have been periods of time, especially after I had surgery in Singapore where you question 'Are you going to play again?'
“I remember we were on the 19th floor, and something had rattled me, and I was in a really dark place and the thoughts start popping into your head and it's like, 'What would happen if I just jumped off? What would happen?'"
While his ranking is currently 1252nd, Johnston appears to have rediscovered his love for the sport. He has also released a book called: 'Andrew 'Beef' Johnston: The Open, Troon, Fame and Me' and also has a podcast named 'Beef Golf'.
He is climbing back up the rankings. Last year, he was as low as 1932. While he missed his first two cuts when he returned to the DP World Tour in June, his T32 finish at the BMW International Open saw him jump nearly 800 spots.
Yet, the memories of those glorious few days in 2016 are never far from his mind. In an interview with Nick Lozito, he said: "That was an amazing experience.
"I’m still pretty speechless. Everywhere I’ve gone since, all over the world — America, all throughout Europe, Australia, South Africa — the fans and crowds have been amazing.”
