Dustin Johnson's epic celebrations after $2.8m Masters triumph
Dustin Johnson has wasted little time in celebrating his record-breaking victory at the Masters, flying fiancee Paulina Gretzky and a group of their nearest to the Caribbean.
The American golfer shed his unwanted tag of one-major wonder on Sunday, denying gallant Australian runner-up Cameron Smith to win the Masters in record fashion.
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The World No.1 withstood a fierce early challenge from Smith to close with a four-under-par 68 to finish as a five-stroke winner over the Queenslander and South Korean Sungjae Im, who both closed with steely 69s.
The American’s winning total was the equal-lowest under-par score in major championship history, netting him the US$2.07m winner’s cheque (AU$2.8m).
In the days since his triumph, Johnson has been partying on the Caribbean island of St Barthelemy.
Johnson flew model fiancee Gretzky; brother and caddie Austin and his wife Samantha; Gretzky’s best friend Kim Melnichenko and her partner Matt Forss; as well as friends Emily Birdsall, her partner Sam, and former caddie Miguel Rivera; to the popular holiday destination.
The group are said to be staying in a luxury apartment on the island, where Gretzky has posted a number of videos on her social media channels.
One video showed a mountain of shots that the group were downing, while others showed off the extravagant surrounds of their accomodation.
Johnson had earlier posted a photo of him and Gretzky kissing on the 18th green at Augusta National, writing: “Dreams do come true … we did it @paulinagretzky.”
Gretzky also shared the photo, writing: “Honey, I‘m forever and always your biggest fan. So proud of you @dustinjohnson.”
Dustin Johnson hoping more success to come
The 36-year-old Johnson has been a dominant force in golf for some time, without validating his standing, winning at least one PGA Tour event in every season since getting his tour card in 2008.
But it had often been suggested a resume of 23 PGA Tour wins, one major and a FedExCup title were not enough reward for his prodigious talent.
But this victory has cemented his place amongst the all-time greats as a Masters champion forever more.
He is the first World No.1 to win the Masters since Woods did so in 2002 and smashed the tournament scoring record of 18 under held jointly by Woods (1997) and Jordan Spieth (2015).
He joined Australian Jason Day and Sweden's Henrik Stenson as the only players to post 20 under in a major.
Johnson’s 24th PGA Tour win also takes him into a tie for 26th on the all-time win list with South African legend and three-times Masters champion Gary Player.
Johnson has threatened to win a green jacket for years, having finished in the top 10 in his past four attempts before his victory, including being runner-up to Tiger Woods last year.
This is also Johnson's 20th top-10 finish in majors with two wins and four runner-ups.
Next up for the 36-year-old is further domination. All things being equal, the next major will be his title defence in April.
“I'm not going to dial anything back,” Johnson said.
“I feel really good about everything that I'm doing. I feel really confident in the golf game.
“My goal is to play for eight, nine, maybe 10 years, and then hang out with my kids and (partner) Paulina.
“So, until then, I'm going to work my butt off to be as good as I can.”
with AAP
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