20 Things You Didn’t Know About Dustin Johnson

Get to know former World No.1 and two-time Major winner Dustin Johnson a little better...

Dustin Johnson hits a drive
(Image credit: Getty Images)
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Full nameDustin Hunter Johnson
Date of birthJune 22 1984
BornColumbia, South Carolina
NicknameDJ
Height6ft,4in
ResidesPalm Beach Gardens, Florida
SpousePaulina Gretzky
CollegeCoastal Carolina University
Turned pro2007
PGA Tour wins24
Major wins2 (2016 US Open, 2020 Masters)
Career high world ranking1st
Current tour(s)LIV Golf
CaddieAustin Johnson
SponsorsAdidas, TaylorMade, Hublot, Netjets Bodyarmor, Perfect Practice
Twitter@DJohnsonPGA
Instagram@dustinjohnsongolf

Dustin Johnson is one of the most successful golfers of his generation thanks to multiple victories around the world including two Major titles at the 2016 US Open and 2020 Masters.

Johnson is one of the biggest names in the sport and sent shockwaves through the game in 2022 after becoming the most high profile player to join LIV Golf before the Saudi-backed series' inaugural event in London. Since then, DJ has been suspended by the PGA Tour and now plays all of his golf away from the tour upon which he has 24 victories.

Here we take a look at 20 things you may not know about the American...

1. Hunter is his middle name. 

2. After Tiger Woods and Greg Norman, he has held the World No.1 position for the third-longest spell in history with 135 weeks.

3. He was born in Columbia, South Carolina - just across the State border from August - and now lives in Palm Beach Gardens, Florida.

4. He won a PGA Tour event in each of his first 13 seasons. Jack Nicklaus has the record at 17.

5. He is married to Paulina Gretzky, the daughter of Canadian Ice Hockey legend Wayne Gretzky. The pair wedded on April 23rd in Tennessee.

6. He and Paulina have two children, Tatum Gretzky Johnson and River Jones Johnson.

7. He has his own foundation, which was launched in 2010. It helps youngsters, mainly with youth and college golf programmes.

8. He started the Dustin Johnson Golf School at TPC Myrtle Beach in South Carolina.

9. He enjoys basketball. His younger brother Austin used to play for the Charleston Southern University team.

10. His brother Austin has been his caddie since late 2013 - with the pair winning two Majors together.

11. He and Brooks Koepka formely trained together in the gym with coach Joey Diovisalvi in Jupiter, Florida.

12. His home course is The Floridian in Jupiter, Florida. Other tour pros who play at The Floridian include Brooks Koepka, Rickie Fowler and Mel Reid. It's also home to the Butch Harmon Learning Center, where Butch's son Claude teaches.

13. Dustin and Paulina have two dogs, a goldendoodle named Daisy and labradoodle called Charlie.

14. His dad is a former club pro and took him to the range for the first time aged six.

15. Despite having a pro as a dad, DJ is largely self-taught and learnt to play from watching other golfers on the driving range.

16. He loves suits - he once told Golf Digest that he owns 30 Prada and Dolce and Gabbana suits.

17. He has made just shy of $75m in official PGA Tour career earnings, which would put him third on the list behind Tiger Woods and Phil Mickelson. Both he and Mickelson have been removed from the list, however, after joining LIV Golf.

18. Dustin was LIV Golf's highest profile signing before the inaugural London event in June 2022 and became captain of the 4 Aces team. He reportedly signed for a fee north of $125m and was immediately suspended by the PGA Tour.

19. He won the LIV Golf individual title in the inaugural season, picking up an $18m bonus. His team also won the Team Championship for $4m each, and he won over $35m in the first year of LIV in total.

20. He has made 13 holes-in-one

Elliott Heath
News Editor

Elliott Heath is our News Editor and has been with Golf Monthly since early 2016 after graduating with a degree in Sports Journalism. He manages the Golf Monthly news team as well as our large Facebook, Twitter and Instagram pages. He covered the 2022 Masters from Augusta National as well as five Open Championships on-site including the 150th at St Andrews. His first Open was in 2017 at Royal Birkdale, when he walked inside the ropes with Jordan Spieth during the Texan's memorable Claret Jug triumph. He has played 35 of our Top 100 golf courses, with his favourites being both Sunningdales, Woodhall Spa, Western Gailes, Old Head and Turnberry. He has been obsessed with the sport since the age of 8 and currently plays off of a six handicap. His golfing highlights are making albatross on the 9th hole on the Hotchkin Course at Woodhall Spa, shooting an under-par round, playing in the Aramco Team Series on the Ladies European Tour and making his one and only hole-in-one at the age of 15 - a long time ago now!


Elliott is currently playing:


Driver: Titleist TSR4

3 wood: Titleist TSi2

Hybrids: Titleist 816 H1

Irons: Mizuno MP5 5-PW

Wedges: Cleveland RTX ZipCore 50, 54, 58

Putter: Odyssey White Hot OG #5

Ball: Srixon Z Star XV