Marquee players are going out, and average players are coming in. LIV’s long-term viability continues to swirl, and its once-standing claim of changing golf might just look laughable to many. Yet, Dustin Johnson is unmoved by any of it. He plays less, earns more, and spends time with family, and this doesn’t fare well with the critics. As long as he reaps the fruits (money, of course) of his LIV’s seeds, he “doesn’t care.”

“I don’t really care, to be honest,” Johnson said on the Dan on Golf Show ahead of the Dubai Desert Classic. “I do what I think is best for me and my family. I am enjoying where I’m at right now…LIV’s been really good to me.”

DJ has signed a contract renewal with LIV. He has also made it clear that he doesn’t see himself going anywhere else and is happy playing right where he is. Sure, he’d love to play more events on the DP World Tour, but he likes playing for LIV. Basically, Johnson is very happy playing right where he is.

These comments come at a striking time, as the controversies surrounding LIV Golf have only increased.

Despite its 72-hole overhaul, it remains shut out of OWGR points. Then the audiences are not tuning in. Many of its average viewership came in at 289,000, which was an 85% drop. Even marquee players like Jon Rahm couldn’t bring fans in, as his own 2024 individual championship round in Chicago saw just 89,000 viewers.

Money, too, has been hard. Despite PIF filling its coffers, the league keeps incurring financial losses. The UK-based arm reported losses of roughly $242 million in its first 18 months of launch. The cumulative loss by 2024 reached a staggering $1.1 billion. If PIF stops injecting money, LIV cannot move on its own for a single day.

Yet, Johnson is indifferent. But that’s not ignorance. That’s simply because he is being favored. From the moment he joined LIV in 2022, he has stated this very same response as the reason behind his move. At his introductory press conference, he admitted that this was “best for me and my family.” The schedule was lighter, and the money was massive.

Johnson reportedly received roughly $125 million upfront for signing the bonus. Then, in the inaugural season, he earned an additional $35+ million. As of now, his LIV earnings would easily come to around $60 million, and if you add a contract renewal, it exceeds $100 million. By 2029, Johnson’s total LIV package could approach $300 million. For context, he earned approximately $75–96 million in official PGA Tour prize money over 15 years of his tenure.

“For me, it was playing less and making more money. Pretty simple. Something’s wrong with you if you didn’t [take that deal],” he said in Netflix’s Full Swing.

Not many would agree with him, though. Brooks Koepka reportedly rejected a hundred-million-dollar contract renewal to join the PGA Tour. Interestingly, to play back, he would have to pay an $85 M fine, but for him, that’s acceptable. The PGA Tour’s new “Returning Members Program” deal has also opened a window for other golfers like Rahm, Cam Smith, and Bryson DeChambeau if they ever want to come back “home” as they won majors from 2022-25. Notably, this option Johnson cannot use, as his last major came in 2020.

That could be the reason for his “relaxed” behavior. Yet, there is a reason that complicates the picture for him.

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Dustin Johnson thinks he’s the best, but LIV Golf’s reality tells a different story

“I still have the drive to be one of the best golfers in the world and compete every single week, no matter where I am playing,” says Dustin Johnson.

With LIV’s application rejected for OWRG in October 2023, the golfers are earning only cash but no points. This was the reason why Eugenio Chacarra left the LIV’s stands. Now, with a 72-hole overhaul, the league mimics the PGA Tour—something that contradicts its ‘breakaway’ nature—yet there’s no deal in sight with Trevor Immelman, OWGR’s chairman.

How does Johnson fit here? Well, he was once a perennial world No. 1 but now has slipped to 639th. His last win came at Las Vegas in 2024 with a score of 12-under par. He has called OWGR “skewed” and argued that leaving out LIV players makes OWGR incomplete. But OWGR doesn’t really seem to care, as there’s still no guarantee for awarding points.

On the other hand, due to his 2016 US Open and 2020 Masters, Johnson has a lifetime exemption to Augusta National and is eligible for the US Open through 2026. But his pathways to the PGA Championship and Open Championship, however, are no longer automatic. He has to rely on invitations.

So, when Johnson says that he still has the “drive” to be the best in the world, it does fall flat. How could he be the best if those results can never be produced?