Dustin Johnson makes world No1, despite chequered past including drug allegations, claims of fling with rival’s wife… and link to a murder
- Big-hitting American, whose fiancee Paulina Gretzky is pregnant with their second child, knocks Jason Day off the top of the rankings
- Moment marks new high point in personal and professional life
DUSTIN JOHNSON tapped in the putt to become world No 1 and held the Genesis Open trophy with a little help from adorable son Tatum.
Just a few days earlier, his fiancee Paulina announced to the world this movie-star couple were expecting their second child.
As far as golf's squeaky clean image goes, it is the archetypal, all-American scene.
But it is also a million miles from allegations of failed drugs tests, affairs with the wives of at least one other professional and a link to a murder.
Because for all of Johnson's perceived innocence there a lies a controversy quite unlike any other in the game today.
It was Thursday, July 31, 2014, when Johnson released a statement saying he was seeking "professional help for personal challenges".
The next day a story in Sports Illustrated claimed a source had said Johnson's "leave of absence" was actually a six-month suspension for testing positive for cocaine.
And a three-month lay-off in 2012 after he was said to have injured his back lifting a jet-ski?
That was allegedly another suspension for cocaine use.
Oh, and it was claimed he had also tested positive for marijuana in 2009.
The PGA Tour does not make public its suspensions.
But in the book Chasing the Legends, author Shane Ryan reveals the incredulity with which his "personal challenges" claim was met.
Upon hearing the news, he wrote: "A writer in my aisle turned to face me, placed one finger on the right side of his nose, and inhaled mightily through his left nostril. 'No s***?'
"No s*** - Johnson, they told me, had supposedly failed a drug test for cocaine, and this allegedly wasn't the first time."
Johnson has denied having a cocaine problem, and denied ever failing a drugs test on the PGA Tour.
Then there are the claims about the women.
While not on the scale of Tiger Woods' exploits with porn stars and cocktail waitresses, Johnson is alleged to have struck closer to home.
Specifically, with the wives of other PGA Tour players - according to one reporter, breaking up a marriage.
Alli Mackenzie, ex-wife of PGA Tour star Will, was forced the deny rumours of a tryst in a series of Twitter posts.
There was also the time Johnson denied cheating on then-girlfriend Amanda Caulder with LPGA Tour star Natalie Gulbis.
Johnson can be seen as a flirt - but the mud still sticks.
As does his link to a gun used in a murder.
When Johnson was 16 he was allegedly forced by a friend's older brother into buying bullets for a gun that had been stolen.
That man then used the gun to murder someone.
Johnson was pardoned of any wrongdoing but the event could have thrown his career down the drain before it had begun.
Remembering the event, he told golf.com: "I sat down with myself afterward, looked in the mirror and realised, 'This is not who I am, not what I want to be'.
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"I wanted to go to college. I wanted to play golf. It was an easy decision, getting back on the right path. I didn't want to throw all this good stuff away."
Johnson's greatest ability on the course is probably the ease with which he forgets mistakes.
That is true of his life off it as well.
Asked if there was still an inner party monster who wanted to celebrate becoming the best player in the world, Johnson replied: "No, I got up at 4.30 this morning. Right now, the only thing I'm looking forward to is getting into bed."
He will soon be a dad of two, has more than £32million in the bank and with his victory last night joined the likes of Jack Nicklaus and Tiger Woods in winning a tournament in each of their first ten full seasons.
People are told not to forget their roots.
For Johnson, the future is the only thing that matters.