Dustin Johnson appears to have no plans to return to the PGA Tour, even if the opportunity comes the way of the 4Aces captain through a peace deal.
Johnson followed in the footsteps of Phil Mickelson in leaving the Tour to join LIV Golf in 2022, and since then the two-time major champion has not looked back, winning both the individual title and Team Championship in his maiden season. It did however come at a cost, in his membership with the PGA Tour.
Johnson and co were all banned by Tour Commissioner Jay Monahan, but there appeared to be a possible return route last June after the PGA Tour announced a framework agreement with the Public Investment Fund of Saudi Arabia.
It is expected that as part of the peace deal - with negotiations still ongoing - that former Tour members will be able to make a return when an agreement is eventually finalized. With that in mind, current member Wyndham Clark had his say on the prospect of a whole host of players returning.
Having his say, Clark believes that whilst not all LIV players deserve to make a comeback, a select few - including Johnson - should be welcomed back. "I think it depends on who it is,” he told the No Laying Up Podcast at the possibility of players from the Saudi-backed circuit returning to the PGA Tour.
"I think guys that have had the career where they should be lifelong PGA Tour players, I think they deserve the right to come play the PGA Tour. If Dustin Johnson wants to come back and Phil Mickelson and guys that have won, Brooks [Koepka], who have won majors and are most likely hall of famers.
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"They deserve to play wherever the hell they want, because they’re so good.” Despite the olive branch from Clark, it remains to be seen as to whether Johnson would even take advantage of a potential invite back, having previously made his stance clear on the back of the initial merger news.
When the framework agreement announcement was released last June, a number of LIV stars had their say on making a possible return, with Johnson seemingly comfortable with how things are on the Saudi-backed circuit. "I'm excited for the future," Johnson said at LIV Andalucia in June 2023.
"I think with this agreement, the only thing that's going to happen is LIV is going to get even better than what it is now, which is already great. I'm happy exactly where I am, and I'm definitely not looking to play more golf than I'm playing now, that's for sure."
A similar stance was shared by Brooks Koepka, who also claimed at the time: "I've been pretty happy with my decision to be here at LIV, I've enjoyed it. I'm not going to speak for everybody else, but I would say everybody is pretty excited, and everybody is pretty happy with where they're at right now."
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