22 January,2015 08:33 AM IST | | A Correspondent
American golfer, currently on a six-month hiatus from the sport to 'clean up his act', and his fiancee Paulina Gretzky welcome their first child
Dustin Johnson and Paulina Gretzky attend the BMW International Open's 25th anniversary party in Munich in June 2013
Talented golfer Dustin Johnson and his fiancee Paulina Gretzky welcomed their first child on Monday, according to reports on American websites.
Dustin Johnson and Paulina Gretzky attend the BMW International Open's 25th anniversary party in Munich in June 2013. Pic/Getty Images
Paulina, the daughter of National Hockey League legend Wayne, delivered the boy at a private clinic just outside Los Angeles, the reports added without revealing the name of the baby boy.
Johnson is currently on voluntary leave of absence from the PGA Tour. His disappearance from the tour in late July prompted allegations in the United States of a positive test for cocaine - claims which have dogged him for several years but which he has always strenuously denied.
Johnson's admission he was taking a break to tackle "personal challenges" only intensified speculation, but in his first interviews since the announcement the big-hitting Ryder Cup star has again dismissed the drug claims, revealing his battle has been with alcohol.
"I did not have a problem," he told ESPN and Sports Illustrated.com, talking specifically about cocaine. "It's just something I'm not going to get into. I have issues but that's not the issue."
Johnson insisted drugs "didn't really have a role in my life". He said: "Like everyone I'm tested regularly by the Tour and as far as that's concerned ... I haven't failed anything. I would drink and drink to excess. The change I made is I just don't do that any more. I definitely have given up hard liquor."
Johnson is expected to return to action at Farmers Insurance Open at Torrey Pines in a fortnight and said in a recent interview that he had learned new ways to deal with stress during his period of leave, thanks to coaching from Paulina's father, Wayne Gretzky.
