ST. ANDREWS, Scotland — Dustin Johnson played dumb. 

That was clearly his strategy when asked about LIV Golf after his second-round 67 on Friday got him to 9-under and four shots off the lead in the British Open at St. Andrews. 

LIV Golf, the Greg Norman-fronted, Saudi-backed rival tour, is the elephant in golf’s room at the moment. And when Johnson finished his round Friday, there was a significant presence of LIV Golf players high on the leaderboard, beginning with himself. 

Talor Gooch was two shots behind Johnson at 7-under and conceded after his second-round 69 that the LIV players have somewhat bonded in an us-against-the-world way since they’ve been made out to be outcasts. 

“Everybody, it feels like, is against us [and] it’s kind of banded us together,’’ Gooch said. 

“I don’t really know what you’re talking about,’’ Johnson said when he was asked about Gooch’s comments and the LIV players supporting each other. “For me, obviously, they’re all good players and playing well this week. For me coming in here, obviously, it’s a major. I want to come in here and play well and compete. I feel like I put myself in a good position going into the weekend.’’ 

When asked about Gooch saying the LIV players have banded together, Johnson further tried to separate himself, saying: “Honestly, I don’t read anything. So, I wouldn’t know what you were saying or if there was anything negative being said. I don’t pay attention to it.’’ 

Earlier, Gooch defended the LIV players, saying: “The credentials of everyone speaks for themselves. It’s obviously cool for me to see other [LIV] guys that are out there playing well. We’ve caught a lot of flak for what we’ve done here recently. I think one thing that cannot be questioned is the quality of players that are there.’’ 

Interestingly, Gooch revealed that his initial intention was to play in only the first LIV Golf event as a one-off. 

“That was my original plan,” he said. 

Asked when he decided to sign on full-time, he said, “When the [PGA] Tour suspended me.’’ 

Gooch said he hopes the division that has occurred as a result of the PGA Tour suspending LIV players doesn’t include the major championships. 

“I’d like to think that the majors would like to have the best players in the world playing in their events in spite of everything that’s going on, but obviously that’s not up to me,’’ he said. “Hopefully this won’t be my last one.’’ 

Other LIV Golf players who have been having good weeks include Lee Westwood and Abraham Ancer (5-under), Patrick Reed (4-under), and Sergio Garcia (who shot 66 on Friday) and Ian Poulter (3-under).