LIV Golf's Dustin Johnson explains surprising decision to skip Open qualifying

Dustin Johnson has revealed he decided against trying to qualify for The Open this year as he felt it was "a long way to travel" to play in a 36-hole qualifier. 

Johnson failed to qualify automatically for the final men's major of the year at Royal Birkdale. 

The American had entered final qualifying at Dundonald Links, one of four venues offering five places each for the 154th Open.

But he was removed from the entry list, with no reason given for his withdrawal. 

His decision not to play meant that Johnson missed a major championship for the first time since the 2017 Masters. 

Johnson has now told Garrett Johnston of Beyond the Clubhouse that he was reluctant to make the trip for just 36 holes. 

"It was just a lot to travel," the two-time major champion said.

"To go over there, you know, for one day, especially just in the time frame it was. 

"I mean obviously I love the Open Championship. I wish I would have been playing, but, yeah, just didn’t work out.

"I thought about it, I was going to do it, but it was just a lot just to go over for a day. It was not a big deal.

"Hopefully I'll be back for St. Andrews [in 2027]. 

Johnson signed a contract extension with LIV Golf in January but the future of the breakaway tour hangs in the balance. 

A new investor has been found but the league faces a race against time to garner enough support for LIV Golf 2.0. 

Their chief executive, Scott O'Neil, told reporters on Wednesday that there is a deadline for players to sign up for the next version of the league but wouldn't provide details of what that was.

Ian Poulter previously suggested it was 1 September. 

LIV players reportedly met with Ted Goldthorpe this week.

Goldthorpe heads the credit division at international investment firm BC Partners, which is widely believed to be LIV's so-called unnamed investor.

Johnson said he knows Ted well and has spoken to him on several occasions but wasn't at the meeting.

"I was out practising," Johnson said. "I mean, from what I know, it's going great.

"I think there's a lot of things, but, you know, I think it's moving in the right direction.

"I haven't seen a whole lot, so I'm worried about this week, and then next week, we'll get into those details, but for right now, I mean, from everything I've heard, it's going really well."

Johnson's 2026 season has been mixed. His best LIV finish arrived in Korea when the former Masters champion took fourth. 

He shared 33th at The Masters, 44th at the PGA Championship and 32nd at the U.S. Open. 

Johnson opened the U.S. Open with a 66 but fell out of contention with a disaster 77 in round two at Shinnecock Hills. 

Still, Johnson believes his game is in a good spot. 

"The swing's feeling nice, actually," said Johnson. "Probably the best it has felt, you know, for a while.

"I mean, it's been feeling like it's close all year. I just haven't been able to, like, just never, like, be consistent.

"It's just starting to come around. I still feel like I have a lot of game, so, you know, I've just got to put it all together."