Selling rebel tour is no job for dreary DJ

DUSTIN JOHNSON, it is fair to say, is not prone to complexity, or insight, or wit. That didn’t matter previously because he was there to play golf, which he did rather well. By its nature, however, the rebel tour needs captivating figures. It needs selling, personality. Good luck, now Johnson is the man intended to headline that show. As it is, he is simply the most famous name on a roster of largely spent forces and mediocrities. Louis Oosthuizen is in good form, but won his only major tournament in 2010; Sergio Garcia, Martin Kaymer, Graeme McDowell and Charl Schwartzel are all major winners too, but their achievements seem largely in the past. Johnson (above) has won two majors, but still trails Padraig Harrington and Jordan Spieth. Brooks Koepka and Rory McIlroy have as many major wins as the entire rebel field combined. Anyway, why go to watch such a small group of major champions when the average start list at a PGA Tour event boasts many more? Tiger Woods has almost double the rebels’ total of eight major wins. If golf had a Ronnie O’Sullivan figure, a high-profile competitor still at his best, with a winning personality and a winning game that the entire sport would pay to watch, it would be different. That individual could be a pied piper, dragging the crowds and the performers with him. Woods was that man in golf, but it’s a battle for him to finish a tournament now, let alone be relied upon to sell a brand new tour. Anyway, he’s in opposition. Phil Mickelson? He appears to have alienated both sides and, at the moment, has declared for neither. This leaves Johnson. The rebels paid him £100million to get on board. That could fund a lot of scriptwriters because now he certainly needs one.