UPDATED: Dustin Johnson Leaves Golf To Spend More Time With Paulina Gretzky Cocaine

Dan Regester10 years ago

Dustin Johnson is sixteenth in the world golf rankings and fifth in the American Ryder Cup standings. He’s won eight PGA events and would be a major champion winner if it wasn’t for a controversial penalty on the 72nd hole at the 2010 PGA Championship, where he grounded his club in a dirt pile that was later deemed to be a bunker.

Yet with all these accomplishments on tour, Johnson is best known for locking down Paulina Gretzky, and rightfully so.

Yesterday, news broke that Johnson will take a leave of absence from golf for an undetermined amount of time.

From NY Post:

Golf lost one of its biggest stars for an indefinite period of time Thursday when Dustin Johnson announced — in a vague prepared statement — that he’s stepping away from the game to tend to personal issues.

“I am taking a leave of absence from professional golf, effective immediately,” Johnson said, three days after withdrawing from this week’s WGC-Bridgestone Invitational in Akron, Ohio for what he described as “personal reasons.”

“I will use this time to seek professional help for personal challenges I have faced,” Johnson continued in the statement. “By committing the time and resources necessary to improve my mental health, physical well-being and emotional foundation, I am confident that I will be better equipped to fulfill my potential and become a consistent champion.

“I respectfully ask my fans, well-wishers and the media for privacy as I embark upon this mission of self-improvement.”

There has been plenty of speculation as to why Johnson is stepping away from the game, especially because his announcement came a week before the PGA Championship at Valhalla. It’s no secret that he enjoys a good party from time to time. A college teammate from Johnson’s days at Coastal Carolina described him as “wild” and said he “went at it so hard at parties that no one could keep up with him.” Johnson was arrested for a DUI in 2009 and there’s been suspicion that he has failed several drug tests while on tour.

In May 2012, a month after Johnson withdrew from the Masters and with speculation of a possible drug suspension by the PGA Tour running rampant, Johnson’s agent, David Winkle, insisted Johnson had not been serving a drug suspension. The Tour’s policy is to announce violations of the anti-doping policy for the use of performance-enhancing drugs, but suspensions stemming from recreational drug violations are not made public.
This incident led one veteran PGA Tour caddie to speculate Johnson had failed a drug test and might be suspended this time since, in his statement, he defined the tournaments he would miss, including the Ryder Cup.

Even though [the PGA Tour] doesn’t announce these things, the first time is a slap on the wrist, the second time is three months and the third time is a year,’’ the caddie said. “I wouldn’t be surprised if [Johnson] is gone for a year.

At least he has Paulina.

Update: He got busted for Cocaine.

From Golf.com:

According to the source, Johnson has failed three drug tests: one for marijuana in 2009 and two for cocaine, in 2012 and 2014. He was previously suspended for the 2012 failed test, but that suspension was never made public. Under the PGA Tour’s drug-testing policies, the Tour is not required to announce any disciplinary actions against players who test positive for recreational drugs.

Johnson’s conduct has long been a topic of conversation among close observers of the Tour. He is often seen in bars near his home in Jupiter, Fla., and is also known to have had a sexual indiscretion with at least one wife of a PGA Tour player

Don’t get greedy now, Dustin. Taking Paulina to pound town on a regular basis should be enough.

[via NY Post]

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