The PGA Tour schedule is gearing up. The Arnold Palmer Invitational is less than two weeks away, followed by the Players Championship. The Masters is little more than a month away.
Yet Dustin Johnson is in Myrtle Beach, to his credit, making his presence known as a junior tournament that bears his name. Besides, he won’t be at Bay Hill, or TPC at Sawgrass. He’s not invited.
Since taking the money to join the LIV Tour, Johnson has all but retired from being one of the top golfers in the world. And he’s only 40.
Five years ago, Johnson won the Masters. Last year, he ranked 13th out of 54 players against largely mediocre or past-their-prime competition. In the four majors, he missed the cut at the Masters and the U.S. Open. His best finish was a tie for 31st at the British Open.
Johnson ranks 43rd on the LIV Tour in 2025 after two events. Earlier this month, it was announced that after 18 years, he no longer had an endorsement deal with TaylorMade.
Still, Johnson told Myrtle Beach’s On The Green Magazine that he’s OK with his life.=
“It’s been really nice. LIV is going really well. My life is going good,” said Johnson on Thursday at TPC Myrtle Beach. “It’s nice for me being at home for a longer period of time. I get to coach baseball, I coach my kid’s basketball team. So I get to spend a lot more time at home and do things I wasn’t ablte to do before. So for me it’s been great.”
OK, I get it. Life is pretty good when you’ve won two major championships, received a reported $125 million (at least) bonus to play a dozen or so low-stress, big-purse team matches for a few years.
Yes, life is pretty good when you’re married to beautiful Paulina Gretzky and can claim Wayne Gretzky as your father-in-law.
Still, shouldn’t Johnson be at least a little disappointed with his performance in the past three years? Though you would expect Johnson to put a positive public spin on his decision, it’s hard to believe he enjoys losing to LIV players and missing the cut at majors.