Dustin Johnson’s Wife to Have C-Section Two Days Before U.S. Open

A week after Phil Mickelson revealed that he would not be attending the U.S. Open because of his daughter’s graduation, another top player’s availability was put into question. Dustin Johnson, however, will not have to miss the major with his own personal commitments.

Johnson is expecting his second child this week and his wife, Paulina Gretzky, is set to undergo a c-section birth just two days before DJ has to defend his U.S. Open title. Despite the close timing between the procedure and the tournament, Johnson says he plans to attend the birth of his second child and then fly out to Erin Hills to make his tee time.

The Johnson family already has one child, a son named Tatum, and now they will add a second son with a name still to be announced. The couple announced that the second child will be a boy in a unique way earlier this year when DJ hit an exploding ball to reveal the gender. When he connected with his swing, the ball exploded into a cloud of blue dust, signifying it was a boy.

Paulina Gretzky and Dustin Johnson came up with the perfect gender reveal for golf fans

Paulina Gretzky and Dustin Johnson announced last week that the couple was expecting their second child. On Sunday, we learned the gender with the perfect reveal for golf fans. Gretzky posted an Instagram video showing Johnson teeing off on a beach.

This wouldn’t be the first time that the birth of child interfered with a star player’s U.S. Open trip. In 1998, Phil Mickelson played the major while his wife could have gone into labor at any moment, which would have forced him to withdraw. Luckily for Phil, he was able to play the entire tournament before his wife gave birth. Johnson seems to have had the same luck.

This is a huge break for Johnson because not only does he get to witness his second son being born, he also will not have to withdraw from his second consecutive major. In April, Johnson was forced to withdraw from The Masters after falling down the stairs in a house he was staying at and had taken significant time off in order to prepare to defend his U.S. Open title.

A post shared by Paulina Gretzky (@paulinagretzky) on Feb 17, 2017 at 9:48pm PST

While Johnson would be happy to win that second consecutive U.S. Open in honor of his second born, no matter how well he performs this will be a week DJ remembers for the rest of his life.

Cover Image via Instagram