'I Would Have To Seriously Think About It' - Beef On LIV Golf

Andrew 'Beef' Johnston, who has been out of action since the beginning of the year with a thumb injury, recently revealed to the Stirkers and Radar Podcast that he can understand why players are moving to the Saudi-backed series in search for money.

Speaking on the podcast, Beef, who continues to recover from injury, stated: "From my perspective, I've got an injury now and I've been out for a year. If you get offered £10m, how do you turn that down? I would have to seriously think about it because that changes my life and sets me up for the future."

Many players and figures within golf have given their thoughts on LIV Golf and specifically the way the series is backed by Saudi Arabia's sovereign wealth fund. Beef, who has one European Tour title to his name, claims that: "It comes down to your values and why you're playing golf. You'd have to seriously consider it [but] I'm not saying I would go.

"In other worlds, how would you feel if someone came along and offered you X amount to do the same job. You'd have to consider it, right? Financially it's great, but that's the only reason you're going. When it comes down to your values and why you play golf, that's where it gets very difficult for someone like me, because you go, 'Hang on, I'll never play another Major again'. 

"If you can't play the Majors and the big tournaments with all the history, people are going to miss that. That's another question that goes through your head. The experiences that I've had at some of the Majors have been amazing. When you go and tee up at The Open or in the US, they are incredible and are memories that last forever.

"If I'm fit and healthy for the next 10 years, I'd be playing Majors, Ryder Cups hopefully, because you cannot buy that experience."

When it comes to how much the LIV Golfers are being paid there are some eye-watering numbers. Reportedly, Phil Mickelson has been given $200 million to feature, with the extortionate amount making him the highest paid athlete in 2022.

Along with Mickelson, the duo of Dustin Johnson and Bryson DeChambeau have been given offers that are north of $100 million, with Greg Norman recently revealing that Tiger Woods turned down an offer somewhere in the region of $700m-$800m to join LIV Golf.