Dustin Johnson Responds to the Haters with Throwback Performance at LIV Golf Singapore

Dustin Johnson has heard from basically everyone under the sun that he’s washed, he doesn’t care about golf, and that his career is on the downslope. He responded today with his best round of golf in some time.

DJ fired a bogey-free 63 and posted -8 to lead the field by three strokes during the first round of the LIV Golf Singapore event.

Solid work from @DJohnsonPGA today 👏#LIVGolfSingapore @4AcesGC_ pic.twitter.com/EEEJZCLCVV

— LIV Golf (@livgolf_league) March 14, 2025

Johnson did his best work on the back nine, firing five bogeys on his final eight holes to take command of the leaderboard. He leads Sebastian Muñoz by three and Cam Smith by four.

The round follows intense criticism of DJ’s game in the past few years, which has undoubtedly been some of the worst play of his career. Many believe Johnson is simply fulfilling his contractual obligations with LIV, and while it is no secret that the two-time Major Champion has plenty of interests outside of golf, his commitment to the professional game has been in question for some time.

Nevertheless, he is still playing good golf, just not frequently enough to be considered one of the world’s best players, at least as of right now. His last four years have not shown his best game: he has managed three top tens in 16 attempts at the Majors of that timeframe. Last year, he missed two cuts and finished T43 at the PGA Championship and T31 at The Open Championship.

Perhaps the Dustin Johnson of old has returned.

Cover Image via Sports Illustrated