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Dustin Johnson may eventually regret his decision to join LIV Golf. The rival golf tour still hasn’t been approved to offer Official World Golf Ranking points, so players like Johnson might struggle to qualify for major championships in the near future. And good luck convincing the PGA Tour to invite you back if the Saudi Arabia Public Investment Fund gets tired of hemorrhaging millions of dollars and stops funding LIV.

So, yeah, there may be a day when Johnson comes to regret his decision to ditch the PGA Tour, but that day is not today.

Over the weekend, DJ led the 4Aces to a win in the LIV Golf team championship at Trump National Doral to add another $4 million to his bank account. With the win, he eclipsed $35 million in earnings in just eight events of LIV Golf’s inaugural season. That’s the most money he’s ever made in a single season as a professional golfer, and it isn’t even close.

Dustin Johnson earned $35 million in LIV Golf’s inaugural season

Dustin Johnson celebrates with the LIV Golf trophy.
Dustin Johnson celebrates with the individual champions trophy after winning the team championship at the LIV Golf Invitational – Miami at Trump National Doral | Chris Trotman/LIV Golf via Getty Images

It’s nice to be Dustin Johnson right about now.

The two-time major championship winner ditched the PGA Tour for LIV Golf earlier this year in a controversial move, but if his ultimate goal is to stack up as much money as possible, it was clearly the right move. In the seven individual stroke play events of LIV’s first season, Johnson recorded a win and five top-five finishes. His worst finish all year was a T16 in Bangkok.

At the season finale team championship this past weekend, Johnson led the 4Aces to a win with a 2-under 70 at Trump National Doral. Johnson, Patrick Reed, Talor Gooch, and Pat Perez split the $16 million prize for winning the team championship.

Johnson also won the individual championship by finishing the season with the most points in LIV Golf. He pocketed $18 million for that feat alone. In all, Johnson won a ridiculous $35.6 million in prize money in one season with LIV Golf.

Johnson earned nearly half of his career PGA Tour winnings in one season with LIV Golf

There are more than a few reasons why Johnson bailed on the PGA Tour for LIV Golf, but reasons No. 1, 2, and 3 were all the endless buckets of cash being offered by the Saudi-backed league. LIV Golf lived up to the hype in that regard right away, too.

Johnson pocketed $35.6 million in prize money over a span of just eight events this season. For reference, DJ earned $74.9 million total in his 15 years on the PGA Tour, and he never banked more than $9.4 million in a single season.

Oh, and that doesn’t even include the $100 million-plus he received just for signing on the dotted line.

If money is all Johnson cares about at this point in his career, he sure did make the right decision to join LIV Golf.

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Jack Dougherty

Writing professionally since 2015, Jack Dougherty spent six years as a sportswriter with publications such as GoPSUSports.com, the Centre Daily Times, and the Associated Press before joining Sportscasting in 2020. He covers the NBA, the NFL, and the world of golf extensively and has added expertise on any team located in or around his hometown of Philadelphia. Yes, that includes the Philadelphia Eagles, the Philadelphia 76ers, and Philadelphia Phillies.

When Jack isn’t writing about sports, he’s watching them or playing them as he regularly heads to the gym for some pickup basketball or the golf course to hit the links. He’s also an avid participant in the sports betting scene who worked at a casino sportsbook for a year and learned the ins and outs of the industry before bringing his expertise to Sportscasting with one excellent gambling recommendation after another.