Top Golf Newsmakers of 2022: Dustin Johnson, LIV Golf King
Who He Is: LIV Golf member, LIV player of the year
SI Golf Rank: 6 (Bob Harig), 9 (Jeff Ritter), 7 (John Schwarb)
Why He's Here: Johnson has lived in the center of the LIV Golf controversy while showing the amazing ability to act like it’s no big deal at all. Any hint of angst or agony is non-existent. Johnson made the decision to sign up for LIV Golf, banked a reported $125 million plus, and has gone about the business of being Dustin Johnson.
Part of that means playing some solid golf, although there had been a lull that saw him go from the Saudi International in February 2021 to the LIV Golf Boston event in September without winning. The latter victory came via a 30-footer in a sudden-death playoff that proved to be one of LIV Golf’s most exciting events.
Before signing with LIV, Johnson had just three top-10 finishes in 2022. He tied for 12th at the Masters but missed the cut at the PGA Championship. It’s possible that some of the LIV chatter weighed on him, although he never let on. And his play in the LIV Golf Invitational Series certainly proved that he had moved on.
Other Top Newsmakers: No. 9 Patrick Reed | No. 10 Tom Kim | No. 11 Lydia Ko | No. 12 Justin Thomas | No. 13 Alan Shipnuck | No. 14 Jennifer Kupcho | No. 15 Matt Fitzpatrick | No. 16 Keith Pelley | No. 17 Judge Beth Labson Freeman | No. 18 Max Homa | No. 19 Rose Zhang | No. 20 Henrik Stenson
Johnson finished in the top 10 in six of the seven individual events, with one victory and three other top 5s. His worst finish was a tie for 16th. He also captained the 4 Aces team that cleaned up in the team competition, winning four straight at one point and then capturing the season-ending team championship.
As LIV’s top player, Johnson received an $18 million bonus – more than the $15 million he received for winning the FedEx Cup in 2020 but the same as today’s FedEx payout. He ended up earning more than $36 million in individual prize money, team payouts and bonuses. Not bad for eight tournaments.
2023 Outlook: Johnson still has plenty of game to be a force in major championships, so it will be interesting to see how he approaches them. He was ranked third in the world at the end of 2021 and is now 41st. He hasn’t played in an OWGR event since the British Open, where he tied for sixth and moved to 16th in the world. Johnson figures to play the Saudi International in February, and how he fares at Augusta National will be among the game’s biggest storylines.