LIV Golfer on the verge of dismissal forced to admit making comments after Dustin Johnson’s statement

Golf star Pat Perez appears to be at odds with Tiger Woods as he risks being demoted from LIV Golf.

Not long ago, Perez also found himself in a sticky situation with Dustin Johnson. Two years after criticizing PGA Tour commissioner Jay Monahan — an act initially attributed to Johnson before Perez relented — the 48-year-old has now fired a message at Woods, who has been vocal about LIV.

Despite his clash with Woods, Perez’s future with the Saudi Arabia-backed tour appears uncertain. He signed a £7.9million contract to join the series in 2022, despite opposition from prominent figures including Woods. Perez enjoyed some initial success after winning the inaugural LIV Team Championship in 2022 as part of the 4Aces team, captained by Johnson, Patrick Reed and Harold Varner III.

However, Perez came under fire after making harsh comments about Monahan and presenting them as the team’s collective view, rather than his personal opinion, the Mirror reports. After last year’s LIV event in Adelaide, it was claimed that Johnson had made comments critical of Monahan.

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After being asked to clarify his comments, Johnson issued a statement denying that he made them and stressing his continued respect for Monahan. Perez subsequently acknowledged that he bore sole responsibility for the controversial remarks.

In a candid conversation with Sports Illustrated, Perez gave his words, saying, “DJ (Johnson) didn’t say anything, it was all me. I said we don’t care what Jay thinks because we know what he thinks about us and when I say WE, I mean me. I can’t speak for the whole group.”

Perez has had a tough season, both personally and for his team, 4Aces, who are in ninth place in the standings. His current ranking is also precarious, as he sits in 47th place on the scoreboard, teetering on the edge of the relegation zone. With only three games left, Perez is in real danger of being relegated from the series.

With Perez approaching the final stages of the series in Spain, England and West Virginia, these off-the-course comments about Woods could put some undue pressure on the 48-year-old. Woods has criticised the competitive spirit and ‘incentive’ of the LIV setup due to the generous payouts for players who finish in the lower positions of the leaderboard.

Perez hit back angrily, saying on the Son of a Butch podcast: “That is the dumbest **** I’ve ever heard in my life. That’s one of the dumbest things he (Woods) has ever said.

“The incentive is the fact that last place is $120,000, first place is $4 million. You can’t win $4 million on the PGA Tour. Now, maybe next year; they finally have the benefits. But the last time I looked, he signed a $40 million contract right out of college and flew in the Nike jet. He found the incentive. He could have closed it right then. He had a lot of guarantees. You know what, and he was the hottest.

“He made so much money on the course, he found a reason to go. But again, he only played so many tournaments. He didn’t go – I never saw him at John Deere, I never saw him support all these events. He played in the majors, he played in the WGCs and that was it.”