Dustin Johnson On Building His Own Legacy — On & Off The Golf Course

Photo Credit: Alberto Gonzalez for Haute Time

BY ADRIENNE FAUROTE

PHOTOGRAPHY ALBERTO GONZALEZ

GROOMING CESAR FERRETTE

SHOT ON LOCATION AT THE FOUR SEASONS RESORT PALM BEACH

Simply put, time does not exist for golf legend Dustin Johnson.

Case in point: as Johnson waltzed onto our set in early May with an infectious energy, he casually hinted that he had just returned home from his 20-plus-hour flight from Singapore with no signs of fatigue. And while Johnson admits he had been jet-lagged that morning, he did exactly what a true athlete does in extreme exhaustion — he went to the gym at 4:30 in the morning.

Time is just a construct for Johnson; in the hours I got to know him, I quickly realized that time does not control the professional athlete. It motivates and excites him. In fact, he was approaching a major milestone, his 40^th birthday, the following month, and he could not have been more elated to go up to Nashville with his closest friends and family to celebrate. And at just 40, the name Dustin Johnson has become synonymous with golf phenomenons — yet another thing for him to celebrate.

Johnson turned professional in 2007 and has since accumulated over 24 PGA Tour victories, winning the US Open in 2016 and the Masters Tournament in 2020 with a record score. He boasts six World Golf Championship victories, second only to Tiger Woods in the number of wins, and he is the first and only player to have won each of the four World Golf Championship events. With his victory at the 2020 Travelers Championship, Johnson became the third player in the PGA Tour history to win a Tour title in each of his first 13 seasons, joining the ranks of Jack Nicklaus (17 seasons) and Tiger Woods (14 seasons).

In 2022, Johnson made a statement by leaving the PGA Tour (the Tour) and joining the new global golf tour, LIV Golf, alongside Brooks Koepka, Phil Mickelson, and Bubba Watson, among others. “It’s been cool to do something different. I was on the Tour for 15 years, and I love everything it did for me — I always have and still do,” admits Johnson. “But it is also pretty cool to start something completely new and it’s more of a global tour, where you play in places around the world. I am definitely traveling more with LIV Golf, and I think that will continue to be bigger within the next few years — we aren’t even two years in yet.”

Photo Credit: Alberto Gonzalez for Haute Time

With so many major accomplishments under his belt, taking this risk felt right for Johnson. “I still want to compete at a very high level,” Johnson explained when speaking about LIV Golf. “Because I am not getting any younger, I have to work harder than I did before to keep myself in good form, but I still feel great. Actually, my game is very close to being back to where it was when I was competing and having the chance to win every week.”

Again, time and age don’t matter. “I feel like I have a lot of really good golf left in me,” Johnson says with a smile spreading across his face. “Major championships are still very important to me.”

There is an old saying — why fix something that is not broken? — which, to me, perfectly summarizes Johnson. He keeps his circle tight; his brother, Austin Johnson, has been his caddy for many years, and his manager, David Winkle, has been there for him since the day he went pro, both contributing to his immense success on the course. Having a steady team has allowed Johnson to not only focus on his sport but also be himself.

This saying also applies to his personal style. His favorite color, you may wonder? Blue. He just knows it works for him. Johnson showed up to our cover shoot with his entire wardrobe curated (with perhaps a little help from his wife, Paulina Gretzky). And while his wardrobe and personal style err on the more minimalistic side, with traditional tailoring and a neutral color palette, there’s one accessory that does not: his timepieces.

Another immediate parallel I drew spending time with Johnson was that his relationship with Hublot is the perfect pairing. Hublot’s reputation is unconventional in its design. It is a disruptor in the industry, and so is Johnson. He commands a room while Hublot commands attention to detail. In fact, if Johnson had a clean slate without any watch brand ties yet and I could decide which brand would best suit his personality, I too, would choose Hublot.

Photo Credit: Alberto Gonzalez for Haute Time

Johnson’s affinity for watches didn’t begin to grow until he went on the PGA Tour and started to notice that all of the players he looked up to were sporting timepieces (think Tiger Woods and Phil Mickelson). “I partnered with Hublot right after I won my first major championship, the 2016 US Open. Having a watch partner and a brand that understands me was always something I wanted because all of the top players had it, and Hublot definitely fit me best,” Johnson reveals.

“Timepieces became accessories that I enjoyed, so I naturally started getting into them,” Johnson continues. For our shoot, Johnson brought four of his beloved Hublot pieces, hinting that he had quite a few more back home, in his rather extensive collection. “The ones you see [on the photoshoot] are ones I’ve gotten after big wins,” he notes while pointing to them in their boxes. But, if he had to pair a watch with a major milestone, it would be the green Hublot Big Bang Unico Golf watch he received when he won the Masters in 2020.

To me, like most watch nerds, watches go beyond the wrist. So, naturally, I had to give Johnson a more in-depth reading into what his watch choice really says about him. For Johnson, watches are the vehicle in which the complexities of his personality shine. For example, when it comes to his go-to personal style, he is tailored and particular in what he wears, from the color choices to the boots (he is a big boot guy), ultimately showing his more disciplined side. But his watches are where his more playful side comes to light. The four watches Johnson brought onto our set — like the Spirit of Big Bang in Hublot’s signature King Gold and full pavé diamonds retailing just under $60,000 — all had that ‘wow’ factor.

The reading of Johnson continued on set as we discussed his upcoming 40^th birthday, immediately recognizing he is a Cancer — and Cancer men are complex, to say the least — perfectly explaining his timepiece choices.

Photo Credit: Alberto Gonzalez for Haute Time

And while his love for golf and watches was apparent on set, I learned another of Johnson’s passions: tequila. Living in Palm Beach, the golf mecca where star athletes like Michael Jordan play, it is only fitting that Johnson has taken a liking to Cincoro Tequila, the brand launched by five NBA legends: Jeanie Buss, Wes Edens, Emilia Fazzalari, Wyc Grousbeck, and Michael Jordan.

Johnson has become an investor in the brand, joining a star-studded WhatsApp group of like-minded individuals (like Serena Williams, Derek Jeter, and Travis Scott, to name a few) who share the same devotion to the brand. “It’s been an awesome journey with Cincoro — they have a great team assembled behind the brand, like Jordan, and other major athletes, entertainers, and team owners that support the brand,” Johnson says.

In his limited downtime, living in South Florida is easy for Johnson. Whether he’s fishing, diving, or sailing on one of his boats — a Bahama 41 or Viking Yacht for sportfishing — down to the Bahamas, Johnson was meant to live a life on the water. And at some point, Johnson does want to slow down. “My family has sacrificed so much for me to what I do, that I want to eventually take a step back,” he admits. “Hanging with my family is the most important thing to me.”

Johnson and Gretzky have two boys, Tatum (nine) and River (seven), and just as you would likely imagine, they are picking up on both mom and dad’s athleticism with Johnson’s father-in-law being Wayne Gretzky. “We play golf, basketball, and baseball together — well, all of the sports — around the house,” Johnson laughs — just as he did as a child.

Johnson is building a legacy, both on the course and at home, that he can certainly look back on again in another 40 years and be equally as proud of as he is now. “You can’t buy time,” he reflects. “Time is something you always have to manage, so be thankful for whatever time you have and, for me, I try to spend it as wisely as I can.” In the world of Johnson, time is not just measured by the ticks of a watch but by the moments that define a legacy.

Photo Credit: Alberto Gonzalez for Haute Time