With his trademark beard, larger-than-life personality and world-class game, Andrew “Beef” Johnston was once one of golf’s most recognisable figures before seemingly vanishing from the spotlight. So why has the fan-favourite Englishman resurfaced in Western Australia?
If you were completely dialled into the world of professional golf, you first heard the name Andrew “Beef” Johnston in April 2016 when the North Londoner captured the Open de España at the famed Valderrama course. But if you weren’t following the European Tour each week, perhaps Johnston didn’t pique your interest until the Open Championship three months later. On a far bigger and more global stage, the smiling, bearded tour pro captured the imagination of the sporting public with his loveable personality on full display at Royal Troon.
In Scotland, cheers of “Beef!” rang out all week across the famed Ayrshire links as Johnston constantly waved to galleries and joked with media during interviews while earning a T-8 finish. He almost attracted as much attention as the epic final-round duel between winner Henrik Stenson and runner-up Phil Mickelson.
For Johnston, whose celebrity began almost overnight, the years after the 2016 Open Championship produced plenty of quality golf. Later in 2016, he finished T-7 at the elite BMW PGA Championship at Wentworth and third at the European Masters. He went on to record a runner-up finish at the Hero Indian Open in 2018, T-4s at the Italian Open and Scottish Open in 2019, a T-6 at Wentworth in 2021 and, only a year ago, another third place at the European Masters in Switzerland. The guy can seriously play – and on some of the world’s toughest courses.
But the past decade has been punctuated by injuries, and Johnston took a two-year break from the game. He never lost belief in his ability, though, and last year he was forging a comeback thanks to a solid stretch of results on the DP World Tour, including that podium finish in the Swiss Alps. Then came another setback: earlier this year, a specialist in Singapore told Johnston he had a complete ligament tear and partial tears in two other tendons in his thumb. Having previously played the Perth International, Johnston travelled to Western Australia with his family, found a surgeon and underwent a procedure on his thumb. He didn’t realise he would become infatuated with our west coast.
“We’ve fallen in love with Perth and we just love the lifestyle,” he told Australian Golf Digest during an interview in which Johnston discussed his rise to prominence, handling sudden fame, injuries, the Australian Open and his latest hard-earned comeback.
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On choosing Perth as a base to practise and return to the DP World Tour: “Last season, my hand [injury flared up] again and this year, I was misdiagnosed in Europe. I travelled to Singapore [for a second opinion], and we came down to Australia for a week. I found a surgeon and was recommended [separately] about that same surgeon from someone within the space of about two days. So, I saw him and I loved what he said, and I went with it. I ended up having surgery within a week of getting to Australia.”
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On how the Perth sojourn continued from there: “I thought I was going to be here for maybe two months to get over the initial first bit of the surgery, but the surgeon put me in touch with [physiotherapist] Marty [McInnes] and his team. I started working with Marty and all of a sudden, an entire team developed around me. I started practising at Mt Lawley, Sea View and the Western Australian Golf Club and they’ve been so, so good to me. I quickly realised, Hang on, we actually were loving life here. Our little one loves it, [wife] Jodie loves it. We wanted to finish the injury rehab here, and we ended up staying. The longer we’ve stayed, the more we’ve fallen in love with Perth. We love the lifestyle and everything.”
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On how significantly the thumb injury was impacting his golf swing: “It was strange, because I had a couple years off and when I came back and played, my hand felt OK. My thumb felt a bit unstable, but I didn’t really know why and I had no pain, so I was happy. I started to play really good again and I had a great finish in Switzerland. But the pain [began] a few weeks after that and I didn’t really know why until I saw the surgeon here in Australia. His thought process was that I had torn one of the ligaments a couple years ago and, sometimes, pain can just fade away [when you’re not using the muscles], so that’s how I was able to come back and play. But because of the instability of it, [once I got playing again I was putting pressure on other ligaments] and the pain returned.”
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On where his DP World Tour status sits: “Last season, that third place in Switzerland was massive for me, because I ended up finishing about 100th on the Order of Merit and I kept my tour status. So, I’ll have a full medical exemption for this next season. With Australia being the start of the season [at the co-sanctioned Australian PGA and Open], I’ll come under a medical exemption for the next season.”
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On how he’s balancing post-recovery expectations with competitiveness for the Australian PGA and Open: “I’ve always found the timing can be really difficult for Australia if you play all the way to the end of the DP World Tour season. I usually like to go and have a break after the season, but in the times we have come down to Australia, I’ve loved it. I’m ramping up and starting to practise and play because the Australian Open and PGA are big events, they’re important to me. I’m looking forward to obviously playing the PGA and particularly playing in Melbourne and seeing a golf course (Royal Melbourne’s Composite) that I’ve heard so much about over the years. I’m looking at the Australian events in two angles: I want to gain fitness back and get sharp again, but also to play really well. I don’t want to enter a tournament thinking, I’m there to play two rounds then pack my bags. I want to come out and have a good couple of weeks.”
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On how special it would be to win the Australian Open, especially at Royal Melbourne: “100 percent, it would be enormous. The history behind the event, it’s huge. Look at the names on that trophy! The history behind it, and this year the field is so strong and it’s being played at such an iconic course. It would be an absolute dream to win.”
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On maintaining his dream of again playing the PGA Tour, especially with a relatively new pathway that sees the top 10 DP World Tour players promoted to the US: “Absolutely. The goals still haven’t changed and the belief hasn’t changed. I played really well in 2019 and started to find a good rhythm again. It was broken up a bit and then I played well in 2021. It was a tough season, but I felt like everything was starting to fall into place nicely.
“You’ve got to aim high to win tournaments and get to the PGA Tour and the majors. They’re the goals you’ve got to have; the standards you’ve got to set day in, day out. Personally, if I’m not setting goals, I feel like something deep down says you don’t want it.”
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On looking back at major championships over the past nine years: “In the past, I probably took the big events for granted. Taking a step back and reflecting on the moments I’ve had in major tournaments, I never really took that moment to think, Holy s–t, we’re playing The Open here at Troon, or we’re playing the US Open at Oakmont! I see ’em now and it’s been so long that courses I played on have come round on the rota again and I think, F–k me, how long has it been?
“You realise how quickly time flies and how fickle everything is as a professional golfer, and how quickly you can drop off. You have to appreciate how special those major weeks are. Coming back, hopefully this time around, I’ll live that week and I’ll be in the moment a lot more.”
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On judging one’s own age by when a course comes around again on The Open rota: “A picture might pop up of me now and another from the 2016 Open and you’re like, The grey [hairs] weren’t there last time! [laughs] It’s mad how quickly everything can move. Time flies, man. I look back at those majors and experiences I’ve had, and definitely a couple of ’em, I was so stressed about not playing my best golf… of course, you want to play your best, but at the same time take a moment and appreciate that you’re there playing it as well.”
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On balancing his natural larrikin persona with being a serious tour pro, and whether the two were ever at odds: “Oh, massively, yeah. It got completely out of balance. That was the one thing I didn’t really know how to handle. If I look back at changing one thing, it would be that balance. I didn’t know that was going to happen at Troon. I didn’t know I was going to end up that popular. I had no idea, no plan for it. Suddenly, you’re doing too much media and stuff away from the golf course. I was thinking, I have tournaments to prepare for here and rest, too. The weeks off became busier than the weeks I was playing. Everything happened so fast, I didn’t realise that until probably about 18 months after, S–t, I’m burnt out here. The baseline of it all was, I’m here to play golf. That was the biggest learning curve, 100 percent.”
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On how playing well in major championships can make a golfer a household name, almost overnight: “Yeah, it’s crazy. The way I’ve explained it to people is: when everything blows up for someone in that type of situation I was in… compare it to Rory McIlroy or Jon Rahm or Cam Smith, or anyone in that world-famous golf bracket. They’ve probably already won, at a minimum, five to 10 events. Only then are they recognised as these household names. They’ve probably won a major in those five to 10 events, too. I had won one [tournament, at Valderrama] and then I had a good finish at The Open and the next thing I was being compared, popularity-wise, to those guys when I wasn’t those guys! They had won a lot of massive events. So, I thought, Wow, I had to live up to that hype. That’s when I started putting more pressure on my golf because I felt I had to play like those guys, but I wasn’t them. I was still trying to get there. My expectations went from, Let’s just keep ticking along and keep learning, to, Oh s–t, I’ve got to compete with these guys week in, week out. That wasn’t a realistic expectation when I look back on it now. You don’t realise that’s happening when you’re in the moment.
“No finish was ever good enough and, for example, I took Royal Birkdale in 2017 for granted. I finished mid-twenties (T-27) there and I was disappointed. If I look back, before it all blew up and stuff [if you offered me T-27 at The Open], I’d have snapped your hand off for a mid-twenties finish at The Open! Players, when they do blow up, they’ve got to be wary of expectation levels. I joke with Jodie that, ‘You’ve got to stay in your lane, man [laughs].’ You have to keep doing what you’re doing, because that’s the only thing you can do. Looking at others [wasn’t helping] because those comparisons weren’t real.”
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On why golf fans warm to some players more than others: “I think some golfers can become relatable to people. I’ve always loved playing, I’ve always loved competing, but I’ve always seen a life outside golf as well. Maybe that balance is relatable. Yes, we are practising, we’re working hard, but also, if I have a week off, I’m going to have a beer or whatever.”
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On his favourite Aussie food, beer and Perth coffee spots: “There are a few spots in Perth we go to on the regular; I can’t give only one. For coffee, I would say Slow Daze, Offshoot Coffee, March Coffee Studio and Humblebee. Beer-wise, there are so many good breweries here, but Gage Roads Brew Co. had this stout called Dawn Patrol, which I thought was incredible.
“We’ve been meaning to go to this [American-style Texas barbecue restaurant] Big Don’s Smoked Meats. It’s only open on a Saturday, and I still haven’t gotten around to doing it. There’s also a really nice steak place I like called Nextdoor in South Perth, which we’ve really enjoyed going to.”
