30 Interesting Things You Probably Didn’t Know About Dustin Johnson

Dustin Hunter Johnson, the current World Number 1 in the Official World Golf Ranking, became only the third player in Tour history to win a Tour title in each of his first 10 seasons, following Jack Nicklaus (17) and Tiger Woods (14). Here are some very interesting facts about the American professional golfer:

1. He was born Dustin Hunter Johnson, on June 22, 1984, in Columbia, South Carolina.
2. He is one of the three children to Kandee and Scott Johnson. He has a sister Laurie Johnson and a brother Austin Johnson.
3. In 2010, he formed the ‘Dustin Johnson Foundation’ for the purpose of supporting youth and college golf programs.
4. Johnson’s sporting excellence can be traced to his family. His grandfather Art Whisnant played basketball at South Carolina and his brother Austin Johnson played basketball for Charleston Southern University.
5. After their parents split in 1990s he stayed with his father and took to golf. He would accompany his father to the driving range, a pro at Mid Carolina Club in Prosperity.
6. Johnson played golf for Coastal Carolina University and has a record of all-time scoring leader with 72.26. He also holds the lowest season scoring average in school history with 70.40.
7. As an amateur he has won the Northeast Amateur and the Monroe Invitation in 2007. In the same year he was a member of the winning U.S Palmer Cup and U.S Walker Cup teams.
8. Johnson turned professional on September 28, 2007, and made his PGA Tour debut at the 2007 Valero Texas Open. He missed the cut in San Antonio.
9. In December 2007, he finished 14th among 25 players in the 2007 PGA Tour qualifying Tournament contested over six rounds in two different courses at Orange County National Golf Centre and Lodge. In the process he earned full playing privilege on the 2008 PGA Tour.
10. Turning pro, Johnson won his first PGA Tour victory at the Turning Stone Resort Championship and in the process became the youngest winner on Tour at 24 behind Anthony Kim.
11. He won his second career victory at the ‘2009 AT&T Pebble Beach National Pro-Am’ and joined six other Americans to win multiple PGA Tour victories under the age 30. He became the youngest player to win the title after Tiger Wood at 24 years
12. Johnson became the first player in 20 years to win back-to-back victories in the ‘AT&T Pebble Beach National Pro-Am’ in 2010. He had defeated former world number one David Duval and two-time PGA Tour winner J.B. Holmes, on the way to title.
13. In June 2010, at the 2010 U.S. Open Golf Championship, he squandered three-shot lead over Graeme McDowell, going into the final round. He posted a triple bogey, double bogey and bogey on Nos. 2-4 to lose the lead.
14. His second near miss at the title of the season came in August at ‘2010 PGA Championship’ in Wisconsin, posting rounds of 69-70-69-70. Playing around the lead all day, he inadvertently grounded his club in a bunker prior to his approach shot and was penalized two strokes to be placed fifth.
15. He had won his career fourth PGA Tour victory at the ‘BMW Championship’ at Cog Hill in September. He ended the year 2010 ranked 4th on the PGA Tour money list and 5th in the final ‘FedEx’ Cup standing.
16. His entered the final round with two stroke lead at the major championship at the ‘World Golf Championship-Cadillac Championship in March 2011, but could manage only one-under par 71 to be placed runner-up.
17. Playing in the final group at the ‘2011 Open Championship’ in England, with just one stroke behind Darren Clarke, he carded a 2-over 72 to finish T2, three behind Clarke. His second place finish pushed him to highest spot in the official World Ranking to seventh.
18. In August 2011, he won the ‘Barclays’ now known as ‘The Northern Trust’ tournament with two stroke come from behind win over Matt Kuchar. With his first win of 2011, he moved from 19th to first in the ‘FedEx Cup standing.
19. After returning from back injury, he carded a final round 66 to claim the FedEx St. Jude Classic in Memphis by one stroke over John Merrick, for his sixth tour event.
20. He won the 2013 season opener ‘Hyundai Tournament of Champions for his seventh PGA Tour victory. Johnson won by four strokes over defending champion Steve Stricker.
21. Johnson replaced his caddie Bobby Brown, in December 2013, with his brother Austin Johnson, as full-time caddie.
22. Although he announced in July 31, 2014, that he was taking voluntary leave for the rest of the season, a conflicting report surfaced in Golf Magazine, that Johnson had been suspended from PGA Tour for six months after testing positive for cocaine. It was reported that this was his third positive drug test.
23. In March 2015, he entered the final round at the ‘WGC-Cadillac Championship, trailing J.B. Holmes, by five strokes before a final-round, 3-under 69, which led to a one-stroke victory to record the largest comeback in the championship.
24. At the 2015 US Open, Johnson held a share of the lead heading into the final round before suffering a heartbreaking loss to Jordan Spieth, with bogeys on three out of four holes. He recovered with birdie at the 17th and found the 18th green in two but lost the title by one stroke.
25. Johnson broke through with his first major championship with a three-stroke win over Jim Furyk, Shane Lowry and Scott Piercy at the 116th U.S Open in June.
26. Johnson rounded up the 2016 season with his 12th career PGA Tour title and second at the ‘BMW Championship.’ He was awarded the ‘Arnold Palmer Award’ as the leading money winner on the PGA tour. He was awarded the ‘PGA Player of the Year’ and ‘PGA Tour Player of the Year’ awards.
27. In February 2017, he was ranked number one by the Official World Golf Ranking with a win at the ‘Genesis Open.’ He became the 20th player to reach No. 1 since the world ranking began in 1986.
28. He joined Tiger Woods and Jack Nicklaus as the only three golfers in the PGA Tour history to win a title in each of their first ten seasons.
29. Johnson has to his credit 17 PGA Tour victories and was part of national team in winning ‘The Presidents Cup,’ ‘Ryder Cup,’ ‘Walker Cup’ and ‘Palmer Cup.’
30. In August 2013, he was engaged to Paulina Gretzky, a model and singer. She is the daughter of Wayne Gretzky, the professional ice hockey player. They have two sons, Tatum Gretzky Johnson and River Jones Johnson.
31. Dustin Johnson Net Worth: $20 Million