LIV star on verge of axe had to admit to comments after Dustin Johnson statement

Golf star Pat Perez seems to be at odds with Tiger Woods while being at risk of being relegated from LIV Golf.

Not too long ago, Perez found himself in a tricky situation with Dustin Johnson as well. Two years after criticising PGA Tour commissioner Jay Monahan – an act initially attributed to Johnson before Perez owned up – the 48-year-old has now fired a message at Woods, who has been vocal in his criticism of LIV.

Despite his clash with Woods, Perez’s future with the tour backed by Saudi Arabia appears uncertain. He signed a £7.9m contract to join the series in 2022, despite opposition from prominent figures like Woods. Perez had some initial success after winning the inaugural LIV team championship in 2022 as part of the 4Aces team, which included Johnson as captain, Patrick Reed and Harold Varner III.

However, Perez drew criticism when he made harsh comments about Monahan and presented them as the collective view of the team, rather than his personal opinion, reports the Mirror. Following last year’s LIV event in Adelaide, it was alleged that Johnson had made comments that were critical of Monahan.

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After having to clarify his remarks, Johnson issued a statement denying he had made those comments, stressing his enduring respect for Monahan. Perez went on to acknowledge his sole responsibility for the controversial statements.

Speaking candidly to Sports Illustrated, Perez owned his words by saying: “DJ [Johnson] said nothing, it was all me. I said we don’t care what Jay thinks cause we know how he feels about us and when I say WE, I mean me. I can’t speak for the whole group.”

Perez has endured a tough season both on a personal level and for his team, 4Aces, which finds itself in ninth place in the standings. His current ranking is also precarious as he sits at 47th on the leaderboard, teetering on the brink of the relegation zone. With only three matches remaining, Perez faces a real threat of being relegated from the series.

As Perez approaches the series’ final legs in Spain, England, and West Virginia, these off-the-course comments about Woods could add some unnecessary pressure on the 48-year-old. Woods has criticised the competitive spirit and ‘incentive’ of the LIV setup due to its generous pay-outs for players who finish in the lower standings of the leaderboard.

Perez hit back furiously, stating on the Son of a Butch podcast, where he said: “That’s the stupidest **** I have ever heard of in my life. That’s one of the stupidest things I think he [Woods] has said.

“The incentive is the fact that last place is $120,000, first place is $4million. You cannot win $4million on the PGA Tour. Now, next year you might; they finally got the perks. But last time I checked, he signed a $40million deal right out of college and was flying on the Nike jet. He found incentive. He could have shut it down right then. He had a lot of guarantees. You know what, and he was the hottest thing.

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