Sky Sports presenter left with 'PTSD' after 'awful' on-air blunder with golfer

Irish Daily Mirror

01-08-2025

Sky Sports pundit Iona Stephen wished the earth would open up and swallow her whole after bungling Dustin Johnson's name during a live television interview.
The 41 year old golfer, who was poised to capture the world No. 1 ranking in the Official World Golf Rankings at that moment, had just secured victory at the debut Saudi International tournament held at Al Murooj Golf Course.
The event marked the European Tour's first foray into Saudi Arabia, as well as being among the inaugural tournaments to receive dual sanctioning from both the PGA Tour and DP World Tour.
Stephen felt the weight of expectation to mention the tournament's proper title during her chat with Johnson, who had emerged triumphant with an impressive 19-under-par total across the weekend.
However, the stress of making sure she called it the 'Saudi International' rather than the 'Saudi Invitational,' which she had in her head, led to her fumbling Johnson's name instead. Recalling the incident during a chat with Peter Finch on his Rough Cut Golf Podcast, Stephen said: "I called the world No. 1 Dustin Johnson, Justin Dohnson, live in a winner's interview."
When Finch teased if it was a big event, Stephen added: "It was a huge event, yeah. At the time it was one of the first co-sanctioned events in the world. It was when the DP World Tour first co-sanctioned with the PGA Tour, and it was called the Saudi International.
"And I had been told I needed to say the name of the tournament, the Saudi International, in the winner's interview; like, 'Congratulations, you've won the Saudi International...' But all I kept wanting to call it was the Saudi Invitational, and I couldn't get this out my head.
"So I was going, 'Saudi Invitational, Saudi Invitational, Saudi International, Saudi International, Saudi International...' Then they went, 'Cue Iona live,' and I went, 'Justin Dohnson, congratulations!'
"And he looked at me, I looked at him. I wanted the ground to eat me up, it was awful, the whole thing. PTSD from that for many years."
Stephen has been a popular member of the Sky Sports Golf team since 2020, having previously played the game to a professional standard. Most recently she was on hand at Royal Portrush for The Open Championship, which was won by none other than Scottie Scheffler.
Johnson also featured in the event, finishing T23 on six under-par. He has won 24 events in total with the PGA Tour and another nine on the European Tour before he joined the controversial LIV Golf breakaway league in 2022.
As captain of the 4Aces team, Johnson plays alongside team-mates Thomas Pieters, Harold Varner III and Patrick Reed. He has enjoyed plenty of success since making the move across to LIV, winning one event each year. He is also the second-highest earner on the roster at present, with £44,417,051 to his name in winnings, including a £13million payday for being crowned 2022's Individual Champion.
The only man to have earned more than Johnson with LIV is Talor Gooch, who has racked up a staggering £49m. However, Johnson isn't the only big name in the golfing world who jumped ship from the PGA Tour to play under the LIV banner after the league's inception of 2021.
The likes of Brooks Koepka, Jon Rahm, Bryson DeChambeau, Sergio Garcia and Phil Mickelson all remain part of LIV, competing week in, week out for incredible individual and team cash prizes. Just three events remain on the circuit this season, with LIV Golf Chicago landing at Bolingbrook Golf Club, LIV Golf Indianapolis at Chatham Hills and the LIV Golf Team Championship in Michigan all taking place in August.