"I didn't really want to" Dustin Johnson explains LIV Golf trade

Dustin Johnson has revealed the amusing story behind the off-season trade that saw Harold Varner III join the 4Aces.

07 Feb 2024

4Aces captain Dustin Johnson has revealed he was reluctant to make the trade that brought Harold Varner III to his team in exchange for Peter Uihlein.

Following a disastrous week for the 4Aces, in which they came second last, only beating Kevin Na's IronHeads GC, Dustin Johnson gave the media a sneak peek behind his transfer strategy, or lack of, as it seems to appear.

Welcoming Varner to the 4Aces, Johnson, Pat Perez and Patrick Reed took no time to poke fun at their new teammate after he finished dead last in the season opener in Mayakoba.

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Johnson gave a typically laid-back response when asked about how the trade came to life.

The former World No.1 said:

"I got a call, because we weren't really thinking about trading anybody, but they said, do you want to trade Pete for Harold, and I was like -- I didn't really want to, to be honest."

While Johnson negotiated a stellar contract for himself when joining LIV, his transfer strategy appears somewhat more laissez-faire.

Despite his rocky start to life on the 4Aces, on paper, the trade that saw Uihlein join the RangeGoats looks to be a fairly even one, with Varner finishing 7th in 2023's individual standings and Uihlein completing the season only five spots below him in 12th.

Uihlein also struggled in week one, finishing the week 11-over to take a 51st-place finish.

Never one to have a smile too far from his face, Varner took Jonhson's comments well and briefly interrupted him to say:

"Understandable after last week. Man, I need to play better."

Johnson was also quizzed about how much preparation went into his off-season and revealed that having barely touched his clubs, he was really surprised with his 5th-place finish in Mexico.

He added:

"I mean, woulda-coulda-shoulda, as always, in golf. I spent a lot of time at home and with the kids. Not much time at the golf course, yes.

But sometimes it's good to take some time off. I practiced a little bit right before we went to Mexico, and then I worked pretty hard in Mexico at the game.

I was pretty surprised with my finish last week. I'm not going to lie. I was happy with it."

The 4Aces will be looking to get back to winning ways this week with the breakaway Tour visiting Vegas for the first time.

Las Vegas Country Club will be hosting the tournament, and following a blockbuster first week that saw Joaquin Niemann shoot 59 and Jon Rahm's Legion XIII take home the team event, it promises to be another action-packed week of LIV Golf.

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