Dustin Johnson has revealed the amusing story behind the off-season trade that saw Harold Varner III join the 4Aces.
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.
After a week full of disappointment for the 4Aces, securing a second-to-last position and only surpassing Kevin Na’s IronHeads GC, Dustin Johnson provided the media with an exclusive insight into his transfer strategy, or rather the lack thereof, as it seems to be the case. Johnson, Pat Perez, and Patrick Reed wasted no time in teasing their new teammate, Varner, when he came in last place during the season opener in Mayakoba after joining the 4Aces team.
When questioned about the origin of the trade was asked, Johnson responded in his characteristic relaxed manner.
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.”
This week, the 4Aces are aiming to return to their winning streak as the breakaway Tour comes to Las Vegas for the inaugural visit.
The tournament will be held at Las Vegas Country Club. After an exciting first week where Joaquin Niemann scored 59 and Jon Rahm’s Legion XIII won the team event, another thrilling week of LIV Golf is anticipated.