In perhaps the most shocking sports news of the day, Dustin Johnson's name has been included in the Saudi Arabian golf league, LIV Golf.
Here it is…48 guys will play in the first LIV event. There are 42 names here on this list—DJ, Sergio, Poulter, Ootshuizen— with 5 spots to be filled by guys who qualify in Asian Tour event, and 1 final spot for…well, we’ll leave that guess to you.
But DJ to LIV is a shock. pic.twitter.com/sKFqXMRmq4
— Dan Rapaport (@Daniel_Rapaport) June 1, 2022
Johnson is obviously the biggest name in the field, although Phil Mickelson's name continues to be rumored as a possibility. According to Golf Digest's Dan Rapaport, the chance remains for Mickelson to be in the league despite not being initially listed in the event. He even recently dropped out of the PGA Championship as his name continued to get brought up in the LIV Golf conversations.
Johnson is one of the biggest names in golf, as he's been the No. 1 player in the world on multiple occasions. He won PGA Tour Player of the Year in 2016 and 2020. Johnson won a major in each of those two years, with the U.S. Open in 2016 and the Masters in 2020. Since getting his first, and only, green jacket, his form hasn't been nearly as good. At the moment, he's down to 13th in the latest Official Golf World Rankings after being third to end 2021.
The PGA Tour has essentially made it clear that players wouldn't be able to go back and forth between their tour and the Saudi Arabian one. LIV Golf features a few other prominent golfers, including American Kevin Na and Europeans Ian Poulter, Sergio Garcia, Louis Oosthuizen, and Martin Kaymer. In other words, this could be the end of Dustin Johnson on the PGA Tour.
The LIV Tour has a completely different set of rules from the PGA in what they offer. In addition to a limited number of events, there are only 50 players in each field for tournaments. As a result, there's no “cut.” Instead of four rounds, there are just three rounds, 54 holes of golf. In turn, the payouts are immense, so Johnson and company will be making big-time money.
Back in February, it was rumored that Johnson was amongst the guys that were considering the LIV Tour. The list of names went beyond just Johnson and Mickelson, Bryson DeChambeau and others were rumored too. Johnson even released a statement via the PGA Tour, as he downplayed the rumors. Now, he may never play on the PGA Tour again.
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