On a bright Wednesday at Augusta National, dustin johnson walked the Par 3 Contest with Paulina Gretzky close by, turning a familiar pre-tournament scene into one that felt personal and quiet. She was there as his caddie, standing near him on a day built less for pressure than for family, conversation, and the kind of small moments that travel with players into the week ahead.
What made Paulina Gretzky’s return stand out?
Paulina Gretzky returned to the Masters Par 3 Contest with the kind of visibility that comes from repetition as much as novelty. She has appeared at the event for several years, including the year Johnson won his first green jacket in 2020. This time, she was pictured with him as he played, and she was also seen talking with Nicole Willett, the wife of Danny Willett, on the fourth hole.
The setting matters because the Par 3 Contest is designed as a lighter prelude to the Masters itself. Players test the short course, chase a few aces, and move through an event that is meant, in the words surrounding the tournament, for fun and family. For a golfer returning to the Masters field, that atmosphere can make the week feel human before it becomes intensely competitive.
How does this moment fit Johnson’s current form?
On the scorecard, Johnson finished 1-over par in the event, while Aaron Rai won. The number was not the story so much as the frame around it: a player with a long history at Augusta, a familiar family presence nearby, and another Masters week beginning with attention on both the course and the sideline.
For dustin johnson, the return comes after a stretch in which his results have been mixed. He has three individual wins in the LIV Golf series, including victories in Boston in September 2022, Tulsa in 2023, and Las Vegas in February 2024. He has not won an event since then, and he sits 26th in the standings through five events this season, with a best finish of tied for 10th in Singapore. Those details do not change the mood of the Par 3 Contest, but they help explain why every appearance at Augusta carries added weight.
Why does Augusta keep drawing the same family back?
The return of Paulina Gretzky gives the week a sense of continuity. She was present in 2020 when Johnson’s Masters victory came in a different and unusual season, with the event held in November because of the coronavirus pandemic. That win remains the last time Johnson took home an event that included PGA Tour competitors.
Her presence this week also reflects how golf’s biggest stages often become family gatherings as much as sporting stages. The Par 3 Contest is built around that overlap. Johnson’s first round in the Masters was set for 9: 43 a. m. ET on Thursday, and the timing underscored the transition from a relaxed Wednesday scene to the sharper edges of competition. For families, the window is brief. For players, it is part of the emotional setup before the real work begins.
There is no grand declaration in that walk around Augusta, only the visual language of a returning routine: a husband, a wife, a course, and a week that asks for composure. As dustin johnson prepares for another Masters start, the opening scene of Wednesday lingers with a different kind of meaning. The score may change quickly once play begins, but the image of Paulina Gretzky beside him remains the part that feels hardest to miss.
