Dustin Johnson has denied criticising PGA Tour boss Jay Monahan, after it was reported that the LIV Golf star hit out at the commissioner following LIV Adelaide on Sunday.
Johnson's impressive LIV record continued last weekend, as he and his 4Aces teammates secured their first team title of the season, having dominated throughout the Saudi-funded series' maiden campaign in 2022. In the wake of his win down under, the 2020 Masters champion faced the media to assess his week.
Within the press conference Johnson was asked about what the thoughts of Monahan may well be, after his LIV rivals enjoyed arguably their most successful week at The Grange.
Multiple reports claimed that Johnson did not hold back in his reply, having allegedly responded: "We [LIV Golf] don't give a damn how he [Monahan] feels. We know how he feels about us, so it's mutual."
In the aftermath though, Johnson has denied the comments, revealing he replied to the question by offering no comment. In a statement addressing the quotes, David Winkle - the CEO and President of Hambric Sports, who represent Johnson - said: "I spoke with Dustin from Singapore this morning at which time he emphatically denied making any such statement.
"He elaborated by saying his actual response to the question was 'no comment', but mentioned that others interviewed may have answered differently. Dustin remains grateful for his time on the PGA Tour and has the utmost respect for Commissioner Monahan.”
Despite denying the American's quotes on Monahan, there was no mention of his words regarding former 4Aces teammate Talor Gooch.
Gooch was the man who prevailed in the individual event, shooting two rounds of 62 across Friday and Saturday on the way to his £3.2 million win in the Australian sun. Johnson was asked about his ex-teammate's performance on Sunday and seemingly took a jibe at the Adelaide champion.
"Well, yeah, I didn’t want him to win. I never want any other team to win than mine,” Johnson said. “Yeah, obviously I like Talor, and he did really well for us last year, and obviously he played great this week. But yeah, I’m glad we snipped him, for sure, just to give it to him a little bit more.”
