02 February 2023 , 16:08
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PGA Tour star Jordan Spieth has admitted he wishes his 'friend' Dustin Johnson had not made the decision to join LIV Golf. The Saudi-funded series rocked the world of golf in 2022, with a number of the sport's biggest names controversially joining LIV Golf.
A number of players signed on the mega-money dotted line with the breakaway circuit, but their move came at a cost after being banned from the PGA Tour. Arguably one of the biggest names to defect was former world No. 1 Johnson.
The American star had enjoyed plenty of success on the PGA Tour, having won 24 titles - including two major championships - on the Florida-based tour.
Johnson turned his back on this though, and became one of LIV Golf's marquee signings ahead of its inception last summer. Despite the consequences, the 2020 Masters champion reaped the reward of his switch, winning both the individual and team title on the Saudi-backed series, earning £29 million in tournament earnings in the process.
One man who is sad to see the back of Johnson though is his former Ryder Cup teammate Spieth. When asked which LIV star he missed most, the American responded: "DJ [Johnson]. [He was] the first one to go over there and somebody who is not really controversial over here and just worked his butt off.
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Dustin Johnson and Jordan Spieth shared a good relationship (Getty Images)"It paid off, got his breakthrough at the US Open, then went and won the Masters. Just a Hall of Fame player that didn’t create controversy with any other players and played on a bunch of Presidents Cup and Ryder Cup teams. He represented them really well. He was a friend of mine – he is a friend of mine – I just haven’t seen him.
"But I always really enjoyed playing with him and being around him. He plays fast, he’s easy to play with, and fun to watch.” Spieth was speaking ahead of this week's AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am, and reminisced about competing on the iconic course alongside country singer Jake Owen, Johnson and hockey legend Wayne Gretzky.
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Dustin Johnson was crowned LIV Golf's maiden champion (Boston Globe via Getty Images)"I was always interested in the DJ and Jake banter," he added. It was always really fun for me, because he was more interested in asking DJ questions than me. And DJ would fire back. There was some good banter between them. Certainly I miss that.
"Me and DJ wouldn’t really talk smack to each other because we were both playing in the tournament, but it was designated – and Wayne wasn’t going to do it to me. So it was kind of a Jake and DJ back and forth within our match."