Dustin Johnson has joined the LIV Golf Invitational.
The list of players for the inaugural event funded by Saudi Arabia at Centurion Club starting June 9 was released Wednesday, and the golf superstar was among the names listed, according to The Associated Press. (RELATED: David Hookstead Is The True King In The North When It Comes To College Football)
“Dustin has been contemplating the opportunity off and on for the past couple of years. Ultimately, he decided it was in his and his family’s best interest to pursue it,” Johnson’s manager David Winkler explained in a statement to the AP. “Dustin has never had any issue with the PGA Tour and is grateful for all it has given him but in the end felt this was too compelling to pass up.”
Three months after declaring he was “fully committed” to the PGA Tour, Dustin Johnson is among 42 players in the field for next week’s Saudi-backed LIV Golf Invitational. Phil Mickelson, however, is not on the list of participants. By @dougferguson405 https://t.co/bKUTgbMKiv
— AP Sports (@AP_Sports) June 1, 2022
I’m far from a golf expert, but given the amount of attention that Johnson’s presence at the event has generated, it’s clear that this is a monster deal.
Johnson remains committed to the PGA, according to the same report, but it doesn’t take much reading between the lines to recognize this a money play.
The AP reported the following about how payouts will go for the LIV Golf Invitational:
The Public Investment Fund of Saudi Arabia is the main source of funding for LIV Golf. Norman’s vision is to have 54-hole tournaments with a shotgun start — every group starts at the same time on different holes — with $20 million for the individual purse and $5 million for a team component. The winner gets $4 million, while last place gets $120,000.
So, you can be as outraged as you want, but clearly, some people looked at the numbers and decided teaming up with a Saudi-backed golf league was fine with them.
Now, will there be some outrage and criticism? Without a doubt. Let’s not forget that Greg Norman more or less tried to explain the murder of Jamal Khashoggi away by saying, “We’ve all made mistakes.”
🗣️ “I do not answer to Saudi Arabia, I do not answer to MBS.”
Chief Executive of LIV Golf Greg Norman says that LIV Golf Investments is independent and will not answer to the Saudi government or Mohammed bin Salman Al Saud. pic.twitter.com/H7fKGBTuT4
— Sky Sports News (@SkySportsNews) May 10, 2022
The question now is how the PGA will respond to Johnson jumping ship for at least a little bit to participate in the LIV Golf Invitational. Something tells me the organization won’t be happy at all!