Johnson resigns from PGA Tour, won’t play Travelers
Dustin Johnson resigned from his PGA Tour membership on Tuesday morning. Johnson said he plans to only play the LIV Golf Invitational Series and the major championships going forward, meaning the 2020 Travelers champion will not be in Cromwell later this month.
The LIV Golf ’s first event is to begin in London on Thursday. It is backed by the sovereign wealth fund of Saudi Arabia. PGA Tour commissioner Jay Monahan had previously said anyone playing in LIV events without permission would face disciplinary action. This week’s PGA Tour stop is the RBC Canadian Open.
Johnson made his intentions known in London. At 15th in the current world rankings, Johnson, who in February had committed to play in the Travelers Championship June 23-26, is the highest ranked player in the LIV field.
“Last night, his agent let us know that he was going to not be playing,” Travelers Championship tournament director Nathan Grube said. “Obviously, we had been watching this very closely. Then I saw the press conference this morning (when Johnson announced his resignation). Obviously, we love DJ. He’s a past champion. He has quite the history on tour and he always will be a part of our history.”
According to FoxSports, Johnson said, “Obviously at this time it’s hard to speak on what the consequences will be, but for right now I resigned my membership from the Tour. I’m going to play here, for now. That’s the plan. But what the consequences are going to be, obviously I can’t comment on how the Tour is going to handle it.”
Phil Mickelson, a six-time major championship winner, announced on Monday he was ending his hiatus from the tour by playing in the LIV series beginning Thursday. He was the last golfer to win back-to-back Travelers Championships (back when it was known as the Canon Greater Hartford Open) in 2001-02.
Other PGA Tour players have also resigned their tour membership to play in the LIV Golf Series, including Sergio Garcia, Louis Oosthuizen and Kevin Na. Mickelson has not resigned his tour membership.
The PGA Tour membership does not include the four major championships. Johnson and Mickelson among the others teeing it up in London this week who are already eligible to play in the U.S. Open, a USGA event, next week.
The next PGA Tour stop after the Open is the Travelers Championship, to be held June 23-26 at TPC River Highlands in Cromwell. Johnson was the only golfer previously announced by the Travelers Championship committed to the LIV Golf Invitational Series.
Johnson won the 2020 Travelers, starting his ascent to a great remainder of the year, including a victory at the Masters played in November that year. He ascended to the top spot in the rankings.
Bubba Watson, a threetime Travelers Championship winner, is also not competing on tour the rest of this season, but for an entirely different reason: he had surgery last week to repair a torn meniscus.
Last week at the Memorial, according to multiple media outlets, Monahan met with some players’ agents to reiterate his stance against playing in the LIV series.
“As communicated to our entire membership on May 10, PGA Tour members have not been authorized to participate in the Saudi Golf League’s London event, under PGA Tour Tournament Regulations. Members who violate the Tournament Regulations are subject to disciplinary action,” the tour’s statement said.
The LIV Invitational Series is eight 54-hole events, no cuts, huge purses and, in some cases, reportedly, huge bonuses just to play. The PGA Tour events are 72 holes with cuts after 36 holes.
Although losing Johnson and Watson does hurt, Grube expects more player announcements before the deadline on June 17. Bryson DeChamnbeau committed on Monday.
“We are continuing to plan for the 2022 Travelers Championship and thrilled with the field we have and who the fans will see when they get here,” Grube said.