A few days ago, PGA Tour commissioner, Jay Monahan, surprised the golf world when he announced that the PGA Tour would soon merge with its prime rival, LIV Golf. Since its inception, LIV Golf had been ‘poaching’ in top PGA Tour players. This greatly strained the PGA Tour’s relationship with its former players. The PGA Tour consequently went on to suspend every player who left the previous leagues for the Saudi backed one. And now that the merger has finally occurred, a lot of things are beginning to shift.
Many began to speculate that the tournaments that both leagues formerly held separately, may suddenly be unified as a result of the surprise agreement. With all these rumors flying, one golfer out there is setting the record straight and giving his take on these pressing questions.
Former Masters winner gives his take on the LIV golf schedule
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Last year, Dustin Johnson, winner of the 2020 Masters, left the PGA Tour to join LIV Golf. That time, his decision caused a stir because he left such a significant PGA Tour legacy behind. Now that the PGA Tour and LIV Golf will soon merge under one organization, many believe that both will have the same seasons of tournaments.
Days before the prestigious US Open, a reporter asked 4Aces GC captain, Johnson, about the changing scenarios and inquired as to whether he had received any assurances that LIV Golf’s program would continue in the coming year. Johnson answered that, as far as he knows, LIV Golf will proceed according to schedule. The schedule for 2024 will be the same as it was for this year.
JCA shared a snippet of Johnson’s statement on his official Twitter account. The post was captioned with: “@DJohnsonPGA confirms that @livgolf_league will have full schedule in 2024 like originally planned and that it was confirmed to him by H.E. Yasir Al Rumayyan the Governor of PIF and future Chairman of NewCo. with PGAT. It’s confirmed! don’t believe the rumors & PGAT propaganda.”
@DJohnsonPGA confirms that @livgolf_league will have full schedule in 2024 like originally planned and that it was confirmed to him by H.E. Yasir Al Rumayyan the Governor of PIF and future Chairman of NewCo. with PGAT. It’s confirmed! don’t believe the rumors & PGAT propaganda. pic.twitter.com/SyNgkAr1RZ
— JCA (@JuanCAlmodovar) June 13, 2023
Many fans reacted to Johnson’s statement and said that Johnson in fact, has no idea: “Confirms what we all know…dj has no idea what’s going to happen”. In the midst of all the changes, is Johnson participating in the 2023 US Open, the year’s third major competition?
Will fans see Dustin Johnson at the US Open field
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Johnson is familiar with the tough competition of the US Open, as he already had a big win under his name. The tournament received thousands of entries; the number of players eventually reduced to 156.
The US Open granted exemptions to past champions and top-ranked players. Dustin Johnson, who already bagged one win in 2016, is eligible in all categories, and thanks to his amazing game, fans will be able to see his magic on the course this Thursday.
In 2016, Johnson won his first US Open by three strokes at Oakmont Country Club. The year before, he missed this golden opportunity when he lost by one stroke to Jordan Spieth. Now that he has established himself as one of the greatest players out there, we are eager to see his golfing prowess again.
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What do you think about Dustin Johnson’s statement regarding LIV golf’s schedule following the merger? Let us know in the comments below.