Paulina Gretzky explains how she met Dustin Johnson, and their odd first date

Paulina Gretzky and Dustin Johnson are one of the golf world’s most noteworthy couples. Gretzky, the daughter of hockey legend Wayne, and Johnson, a two-time major champion who was one of LIV Golf’s original signees, recently sat down with GOLF’s Claire Rogers for their first ever joint interview on the latest episode of The Scoop.

A number of topics were on the docket, including Johnson’s 2020 Masters win, appearing on Netflix’s Full Swing, and what it’s like for Dustin to coach the couple’s two young sons. But one of the interview’s best moments came when Gretzky reflected on her first date with Johnson — and why it happened to include not only her entire family, but also…Pat Perez?

Yes, it’s a story you need to hear. Turns out, Gretzky’s mother played the role of matchmaker after being paired with Johnson at a pro-am. When she asked Johnson if he’d like to meet Paulina, he quickly agreed.

“I wanted nothing to do with him at the time, but lo and behold, [he’s the] love of my life,” Gretzky said.

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Their first date was a story in itself, as Johnson was invited to the Gretzky family house.

“I literally was like, OK, go in sweatpants, sweatshirt, start from the very bottom and then you can blow it out of the water the next time if you really like him,” Gretzky said. “And I did.”

For Gretzky, being at home was relaxing, but in retrospect, she realized that probably wasn’t the case for Johnson.

“It was just a chill environment and honestly it let us be our authentic selves where it didn’t feel like too much pressure,” she said. “But then later down the road, I realized, there was a lot of pressure, wasn’t there? [Johnson] was like, no sh–!”

In addition to Gretzky’s family of seven, there were others present too.

“Imagine that: My mom, my dad, all the siblings, and him,” Gretzky said. “Pat Perez was there, a baseball player, Dustin’s agent David Winkle was there. I mean, everyone was there. They’ve been on the journey from the beginning.”

So what did that first meeting entail?

“We had dinner in my house and then the next night he took me out to a date with my dad and one of my best girlfriends, Hannah,” Gretzky said with a laugh. “I like more like moments like that. You build like a friendship and then it leads into something that will last.”

For more from Gretzky and Johnson, check out the full episode of The Scoop below.

Golf.com Editor

As a four-year member of Columbia’s inaugural class of female varsity golfers, Jessica can out-birdie everyone on the masthead. She can out-hustle them in the office, too, where she’s primarily responsible for producing both print and online features, and overseeing major special projects, such as GOLF’s inaugural Style Is­sue, which debuted in February 2018. Her origi­nal interview series, “A Round With,” debuted in November of 2015, and appeared in both in the magazine and in video form on GOLF.com.

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