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On Sunday night, close observers of the professional game may have paused when they saw quotes critical of PGA Tour commissioner Jay Monahan attributed to LIV golfer Dustin Johnson.
“We don’t care how he feels.” Australian Associated Press Johnson reported on Monahan, after Johnson’s team, 4 Aces, won the LIV team event in Australia. “We know how he feels about us, so it’s mutual.”
When the report came out, it seemed odd that Johnson would take such a pointed shot on tour. In the months following his departure for LIV, Johnson avoided speaking ill of the tour or its leadership, lending only that he felt his decision was prompted by money and a light playing schedule. (Johnson reportedly received a $100 million signing bonus with the new league.)
And indeed, by Monday morning in the US, it became clear that there was a problem: Johnson said he hadn’t done the drilling.
In a statement to the media Monday morning, Johnson’s agent, David Winkle, wrote, “I spoke with Dustin from Singapore this morning and at the time he categorically denied making any such statement. He clarified by saying that his actual response to the question was ‘no comment’.”
LIV spokeswoman Jane McNeil backed up Johnson’s assertion, saying on Twitter that the quote was in fact I grew up with Johnson’s teammate, Pat Perez, whose attitude toward his former employers has been, well, a little less collegial since joining LIV.
Ps Perez is not in text From the 4Aces post-round interview.
While it is naturally important to both Johnson and his representation that he be properly quoted, it is notable that he went so far as to publicly correct the record. Johnson’s approach to the tour remained friendlier than many of his LIV counterparts, some of whom missed a few opportunities to criticize the tour. In the wake of the big pro-golf split, Johnson remains one of the few LIV players to remain in favor of many of his former PGA Tour rivals, including Rory McIlroy, who told reporters at the Masters that he harbored no disease. I will toward Johnson.
Some of that has to do with Johnson’s stature – he has long been one of the most beloved players on tour – and some has to do with his rationale for joining the new league, which he said was driven more by logic than emotion.
he told Netflix’s full swing. “For me, it was playing less, making more money. Very simple.”
It is possible, if not likely, that Johnson’s approach was rooted primarily in his desire to maintain his relationships in good standing with some of the tour’s best players. But it’s also possible that there is a bigger reason as well.
In his statement, Johnson’s agent reiterated a point that Johnson himself has made repeatedly over the past 12 months.
“Dustin remains grateful for his time on the PGA Tour and has the utmost respect for Commissioner Monahan,” he said.