Golfweek Columnist Mocks Idea of Dustin Johnson Being a “Family Man”

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Dustin Johnson and Paulina Gretzky Sons Tatum and River
Dustin Johnson and Paulina Gretzky Johnson with sons Tatum (left) and River. (Paulina Gretzky's IG).

Golfweek’s lead smear merchant (aka Eamon Lynch) is still apparently very upset.

After a series of vindictive hit pieces, attacking Greg Norman and Phil Mickelson – which played a part in the cancellation of the left-handed legend, the narcissistic hack boasted that Norman’s breakaway tour effort was basically dead.

Except the LIV Golf series is not dead. In fact, it’s very much alive… and tees off this week.

So, what’s an enraged woke shill to do? Well, scribble down the hundredth hit piece related to LIV Golf – this time defaming the character of Dustin Johnson.

Unable to accept the reality that a vast majority of readers disagree with his (and Golfweek’s) long-running scorched-earth campaign, the self-appointed arbiter of family values writes, “Slavish sycophants claim someone who has earned over $100 million on the PGA Tour is motivated solely by concern for his family’s future (thus DJ is recast as a model family man!).”

River Jones Johnson Dustin Johnson Tatum Gretzky Johnson Paulina Gretzky
From left: youngest son River Jones Johnson, dad Dustin Johnson and oldest son, Tatum Gretzky Johnson. (Credit: Paulina Gretzky IG)

First off, the author goes peak strawman, claiming Johnson was somehow “concerned” about his family’s future.

“Dustin has been contemplating this opportunity off-and-on for the past couple of years,” said Johnson’s agent, David Winkle, in a released statement. “Ultimately, he decided it was in his and his family’s best interest to pursue it. Dustin has never had any issue with the PGA Tour and is grateful for all it has given him, but in the end felt this was too compelling to pass up.”

From 2016 through 2020, Johnson was the best player in the world. He won 14 times with two majors and held the top ranking in the OWGR for a vast majority of this time.

In these five years as the world’s best golfer, DJ earned nearly $60 million on the golf course, or about $12 million per season. Sure, a boatload of cash, but all of it was prize money, and none of it was guaranteed. It also dwarfs in comparison to the annual $30-$50 million guaranteed salaries of the top players in the NFL, MLB and NBA. (Steph Curry made $45 million this past season, while Aaron Rodgers’ latest contract will pay him $150 million over three years.)

LIV Golf will reportedly deposit $125 million in the South Carolina native’s bank account for appearance fees alone – or about two times more than he earned in his five best seasons on the PGA Tour.

At 37, with 24 PGA Tour wins and a Hall of Fame career already in the bank, the only things DJ should be focused on are: majors and money. With $25 million purses, and a limited schedule of a 54-hole events meant to complement the four majors, the LIV Golf Series should take care of both.

Dustin Johnson Tatum Gretzky Johnson Paulina Gretzky
L: Dustin Johnson welcomes son Tatum to world in 2015. R: DJ teaches Tatum to swing golf club. (Credit: Paulina Gretzky IG)

Back to the mocked “model family man:” Johnson is married to Paulina Gretzky Johnson. The newlyweds have two young boys: River Jones Johnson, 4, and Tatum Gretzky Johnson, 7.

“They definitely bring me back down to reality all the time,” said DJ, about his boys, in a cover story in Gotham Magazine.

“They put everything into perspective. Before I had kids, golf was most important but after you have kids that completely changes. They are by far the most important thing in your life. No matter what kind of day I have at the course, when I come home and see them, I don’t even think about anything else.”

“Hopefully in 20 years I’m retired and I’m chasing my kids around, watching them play,” he added.

Stay classy, Golfweek.

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