OAKVILLE, Ontario — Dustin Johnson got into the hockey — and family — spirit on the par-3 seventh hole at Glen Abbey.
The top-ranked Johnson pulled on an Edmonton Oilers jersey with “Gretzky 99” on the back Wednesday before teeing off on the hole in the Canadian Open pro-am. Johnson is engaged to Wayne Gretzky’s daughter Paulina.
“I get a lot of fans up here, thanks to Wayne. Thanks Wayne, I appreciate that,” Johnson said. “I get a lot of fans and it’s great. It’s always fun to play for a big crowd, to have them cheering you on.”
When world No. 1 meets the Great One 🏒 ⛳️#TheRink #LiveUnderPar pic.twitter.com/aASZH7RWjx
— RBC Canadian Open (@RBCCanadianOpen) July 25, 2018
Johnson was encouraged to embrace his extended family’s sport of choice at Glen Abbey’s seventh hole, which has a tee box surrounded by hockey boards and tournament volunteers stationed at the hole wearing referees’ stripes.
“I’m sure Wayne had something to do with it,” Johnson said. “They wanted us to wear our favorite hockey jersey when we hit the shot on No. 7 so I had the Gretzky jersey on.”
Johnson tops the field along with two-time defending champion Jhonattan Vegas, U.S. Open winner Brooks Koepka, two-time Canadian Open champion Jim Furyk, Bubba Watson and Tommy Fleetwood.
Johnson will play alongside Watson and Canadian Adam Hadwin the first two rounds.
Hadwin donned a goalie’s mask and helmet when he hit on No. 7.
“It’s always exciting to come back in to Canada and play,” Hadwin said. “They love golf up here. They love supporting Canadians. I’m really just proud to represent them.”