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Andrew “Beef” Johnston has fallen in love with the city of Perth and the popular English golf star is using it as a base to launch his hard-earned return to the DP World Tour, which is set to take off at the Australian PGA Championship and Open.
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Johnston, 36, captured the imagination of sports fans around the world in 2016 when he showed a youthful enjoyment and gratitude for the fans while contending deep into the Open Championship at Royal Troon. He finished T-8 as winner Henrik Stenson and runner up Phil Mickelson broke away into an epic duel. Johnston had also won the Spanish Open at the famed Valderrama that year.
The years after the 2016 Open were punctuated by struggles with injury but Johnston was forging a great comeback last year, courtesy of a solid stretch of finishes on the DP World Tour including a third-place at the OMEGA European Masters.
Earlier this year, a specialist in Singapore told Johnston he had a complete ligament tear and a partial tear in two other tendons in his thumb. Having been to Perth previously for the Perth International on the DP World Tour, Johnston and his family travelled to Western Australia where he found a surgeon and underwent a procedure on his thumb.
“We’ve fallen in love with Perth and we just love the lifestyle,” he told Australian Golf Digest.
Johnston is set to tee up at the Australian PGA at Royal Queensland (November 27-30) and the Open at Royal Melbourne (December 4-7). He has been putting in serious hours on the practice areas of Perth golf staples such as Mt Lawley, Sea View and The Western Australian Golf Club. He told Australian Golf Digest he was extremely grateful those clubs had allowed him to practice.
“The times we’ve come down here, I’ve loved it,” Johnston said. “I’m ramping up and starting to play a lot. These [two] are big events. They’re important events and I’ve loved the atmosphere. I’m looking forward to playing the Australian Open and playing in Melbourne and seeing a golf course I have heard so much about over the years.
“I’m looking at the Aussie events as a competitor in two ways; I want to go gain fitness back, and get sharp again, but I also really want to play well. I don’t want to [be there to make up the numbers], I want to come out and have a good couple of weeks.”
Beef’s presence only adds to the growing stature of both the 2025 Australian PGA and Open, the latter being billed as potentially the biggest ever Stonehaven Cup edition. Rory McIlroy has committed to headline Royal Melbourne’s Composite course, while Cameron Smith, Adam Scott, Marc Leishman, Lucas Herbert, and Joaquin Niemann are among the names confirmed.
The Australian Open winner will also receive an invitation to the 2026 Masters at Augusta National while the top three not already exempt on the leaderboard will be granted starts in the 154th Open Championship at Royal Birkdale.
Johnston said it would be a dream comeback to hoist the Stonehaven Cup for his second career DP World Tour victory.
“Oh, absolutely, 100 per cent it would be massive,” he said. “The history behind the event; it’s a huge event and the players who are going to be there, it would be an absolute dream.”
Read the full interview with Johnston in the December issue of Australian Golf Digest magazine.
