Johnson says he’s sticking with PGA Tour, not new Saudi-backed league
LOS ANGELES A proposed Saudi-financed rival golf league took a big hit Sunday when Dustin Johnson said he was “fully committed” to the PGA Tour.
Johnson added his name to a growing list of golf ’s top players who have said they are not interested in taking guaranteed riches from the “Super Golf League” that Greg Norman and his LIV Golf Investments are behind.
Each of the top eight players in the world who have been asked now have indicated they don’t plan to sign up for the Saudi-backed league. That doesn’t include some of golf ’s other marquee players who have said they are not interested, such as Brooks Koepka and Jordan Spieth.
Johnson, a two-time major champion who has spent more time at No. 1 in the world than any of the current players — he now is at No. 6 — had kept his intentions quiet over the last few months, leading to speculation he would join.
“I feel it is now time to put such speculation to rest. I am fully committed to the PGA Tour,” he said. “I am grateful for the opportunity to play on the best tour in the world and for all it has provided me and my family.“
Like some other players, Johnson said there are areas where the PGA Tour can “improve and evolve.”
Rory McIlroy, Koepka and world No. 1 Jon Rahm were among the first to reject a rival tour at the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic two years ago, and they doubled down on their support this week at the Genesis Invitational, where the chatter was loud about the proposed league getting close to an announcement.
It picked up steam over the last two weeks because of Phil Mickelson, who is thought to be the lead player of a new league but has made comments that make it unclear what the six-time major champion actually is pursuing.
Mickelson accused the PGA Tour of “obnoxious greed” in an interview with Golf Digest while he was at the Saudi International for a seven-figure appearance fee.
And then Alan Shipnuck, who is writing a biography on Mickelson due out this spring, published an excerpt based on a November phone interview in which Mickelson called the Saudis “scary“and referred to the PGA Tour as a “dictatorship.”
Mickelson said three players paid attorneys to write the operating agreement for a new league. He also said he didn’t care if the new league succeeded, as long as it gave players more leverage in dealing with the PGA Tour.
Details have been mentioned by agents who have seen the proposal, such as a schedule that includes as many as 10 events in the U.S., with the league targeting courses owned by ex-President Donald Trump.