“Im glad we snipped him” - Dustin Johnson on former 4Aces teammate Talor Gooch

During the maiden LIV Golf season, Talor Gooch used to be part of Dustin Johnson's 4 Aces, which went on to win their first season-ending team championship in Miami.

A year later, Gooch won his first team title with the new RangeGoats GC in Singapore and also won his second straight title on a Saudi-backed circuit by claiming the individual portion.

Johnson, whose team won their first title of the season last week in Adelaide, said he was glad to 'snip' Gooch from 4Aces. Johnson was asked after winning the team event if he was pleased with Gooch's performance.

He was quoted as saying via the Daily Express:

"Yeah, obviously I like Talor, and he did really well for us last year, and obviously he played great this week. But yeah, I'm glad we snipped him, though, for sure, just to give it to him a little bit more."

Johnson's comments were definitely not serious, but Gooch responded with his performance as the 31-year-old has won two back-to-back LIV events in the span of a week.

Last week, Gooch emerged victorious at Grange Golf Club followed by a victory at Sentosa Golf Club, beating Sergio Garcia in a playoff. His LIV Golf Singapore win also helped RangeGoats claim the team title

Gooch hit back at Johnson in the 73rd Hole Podcast:

"DJ[Johnson] has talked a little smack to me over the last few months and he more or less said, after Miami, 'Enjoy Miami because you're never going to see this again.'"

"It's been a motivating factor, a driving factor and the team to go and get on the podium and get a win as a team. So I kind of proved DJ wrong."

Range Goats, captained by Bubba Watson, has Thomas Pieters and Harold Varner III as the other two team members besides Talor Gooch.

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Talor Gooch tops the player standings after his back-to-back wins on LIV Golf

Talor Gooch now leads the LIV season standings after winning two straight titles on the Saudi-backed circuit.

After finishing 14th, 14th, and 18th in the first three events of the season, Gooch turned things around in Adelaide and Singapore. He has 92 points this season, followed by Peter Uihlein, who has 73 points after five events.

Here's a look at the season standings:

1. Talor Gooch: 92
2. Peter Uihlein: 73
3. Charles Howell III: 69
4. B Koepka: 66
5. C Ortiz: 54
6. P Reed: 49
7. M Pereira: 47
8. S Garcia: 46
9. C Smith: 45
10. S Munoz: 43
11. D Lee: 41
12. B Steele: 40
13. D Burmester: 37
14. M Wolff: 33
15. C Tringale: 33
16. A Lahiri: 32
17. B Grace: 32
18. P Perez: 31
19. J Kokrak: 31
20. D Johnson: 29
21. S Vincent: 25
22. L Oosthuizen: 22
23. K Na: 22
24. P Casey: 18
25. J Niemann: 18
26. H Varner III: 16
27. M Jones: 14
28. C Schwartzel: 12
29. S Horsfield: 12
30. H Stenson: 12
31. M Leishman: 9
32. B Watson: 8
33. I Poulter: 7
34. E Chacarra: 7
35. P Mickelson: 7
36. G McDowell: 6
37. R Bland: 6
38. B DeChambeau: 5
39. Abraham Ancer: 5
40. L Canter: 4
41. T Pieters: 4
42. J Morgan: 3
43. L Westwood: 2
44. D Puig: 2
45. C Koepka: 1
46. B Wiesberger: 0
47. J Piot: 0
48. Andy Ogletree: 0
49. M Kaymer: 0
50. S Kim: 0