Good Monday morning, golf fans, as attention turns towards Mayakoba.

1. “I’m paid, I don’t give a damn”

Golfweek’s Adam Woodard…”Often the odd-score-out for his loaded 4Aces team that features Dustin Johnson, Patrick Reed and Talor Gooch, the 46-year-old veteran couldn’t be happier after a final-round 2-under 70 at Trump National Doral – which tied Johnson and Reed for their team’s low score of the day – at the LIV Golf Team Championship.”

• “All the push-back, all the negative comments, everything we’ve gotten, at this point I really don’t care. I mean, I don’t care. I’m paid. I don’t give a damn,” Perez said with a laugh in the media scrum after the 4Aces won the event to take home the top prize of $16 million. “My team played unbelievable this year. I feel like I’m really part of something that I’ve never been part of, other than me and my caddie, we’ve just been just us our whole life. To have these guys and their caddies and families and coaches and everybody, it’s just one big family now. I just couldn’t be any happier. It’s unbelievable.”

2. Silver lining for Griffin

Kevin Prise for PGATour.com…”For some, it could have marked a devastating defeat. But Griffin has maintained poise in all situations throughout his golf journey, and Sunday was no different. He expressed appreciation for the opportunity in a post-round interview on the 18th green Sunday, thanked all those who have helped him to this point, and vowed to learn from the experience.”

• “Every single time I’m competing out here, I’m trying to learn and gain as much as I can from each and every round, so I can be better moving forward,” said Griffin, who moves to No. 25 on the season-long FedExCup standings. “I’m very comfortable out here … honestly, I need to be almost a little less comfortable in certain situations, because I need to make sure I’m executing and being confident with my swings. I just let a couple get loose and I missed it on the wrong side on a few holes down the stretch, would short-side myself downwind with chips and couldn’t get it close.

• “I just put myself in too many difficult spots to come out as the champion this week.”

3. Thitikul second youngest No. 1

AP report…”Thai teenager Atthaya Thitikul reached No. 1 in the women’s world ranking on Monday, the 16th player and second-youngest to get to the top since the ranking began in 2006.”

• “Thitikul had a chance to reach No. 1 by winning any of her last three tournaments on the LPGA Tour. Instead, the 19-year-old replaced Jin Young Ko of South Korea on a week in which she didn’t play.”

• “Thitikul heads to the Toto Japan Classic to make her debut at No. 1.”

4. McIlroy and Power: Almost roommates at East Tennessee State

PGATour.com staff report…”The small school in Johnson City, Tennessee, competes in the Southern Conference and in the Football Championship Subdivision (more commonly referred to as Division I-AA). Golf may be the school’s strongest sport, thanks in part to a pipeline from Great Britain and Ireland that included Power and (almost) McIlroy.”

• “The Buccaneers, led by Irishman Keith Nolan, finished third in the 1996 NCAA Championship – ahead of a Tiger Woods-led Stanford team – and twice played in the NCAA Championship during Power’s tenure.”

• “Power, who won his second PGA TOUR title Sunday at the Butterfield Bermuda Championship, almost was preceded on campus by McIlroy, who won THE CJ CUP in South Carolina on Oct. 23 to ascend to No. 1 in the world.”

• “McIlroy signed a letter of intent to play golf for the Buccaneers beginning with the 2005-06 season. “The youthful McIlroy brings an extensive and successful resume to Johnson City,” reads the news release from November 2004, which is still available online. McIlroy opted to stay in Ireland and play amateur golf instead of attending college, but ETSU’s coach at the time, Fred Warren, kept the signed letter of intent and had it framed.”

• “I signed a letter of intent to play for ETSU, did my SAT, did everything like that so I (was) fully ready to come over and play college golf,” McIlroy said in 2015. “But at that point I knew that I really wanted to turn pro earlier than the four years. … I had no intention of graduating at all, so I thought it was just better to play that full time amateur golf in Ireland.”

• “By the time I was probably just getting out of college I had just won my first major, so sort of it was a good decision in the end.”

5. DJ’s year of abundance

Tom D’Angelo, Palm Beach Post…”For Dustin Johnson, making more than $35 million in five months on the LIV Golf Series didn’t quite reach his expectations.”

• “It was pretty good,” Johnson said. “I feel like it should have been a lot better. My season, I played good. I didn’t play my best.”

• …”All of that equals $35.6 million for Johnson, including the $18 million bonus for winning the season-long individual title. Add to that a reported $125 million, four-year contract to defect from the PGA Tour and the $1.6 million he made for playing 12 events on the PGA Tour, and DJ pocketed $68.5 million this year. He made about $75 million in 15 years on the PGA Tour.”

6. Didn’t like how he handled himself

Our Matt Vincenzi…”On Friday, Harold Varner III and Niblicks GC lost their match to Smash GC which resulted in them failing to see the weekend with Smash, Majesticks, Cleeks and Punch all making the semi-finals.”

• “However, the loss couldn’t be attributed to Varner, as he handled four-time major winner Brooks Koepka with ease, defeating him 4&3 in their singles match. The same could not be said for his teammates James Piot, Turk Petit, and Hudson Swafford who all lost their respective matches.”

• “After the team lost, Varner called out his young teammate, James Piot…

• “I didn’t really like how Piot handled himself. I think no matter if you’re losing, you keep your head up and just take it on the chin. I loved the way that Turk and Hudson competed. Went out and watched their last three holes that they played, two or three holes. They competed great. Just that you want to win. Pretty simple.”

• “I had a great time with the guys. They are awesome. Yeah, I want to see Turk and I want to see Piot progress. Those are two things that I care about the most. Hudson I could care less. He’s won twice on the PGA Tour. He’s a great guy. He’s good at golf. Those guys are just young — those young guys just don’t know. It’s just the way it is.”

7. R.I.P. Dale McNamara

“Legendary University of Tulsa women’s golf coach Dale McNamara, who led four teams to national championships and coached Nancy Lopez during her 26-year career, died Sunday from complications with a second bout of cancer. She was 86.”

• “McNamara’s two daughters Cathy and Melissa were by her side at the time of her passing, according to a release from Tulsa’s athletic department. Melissa Luellen, Auburn women’s coach, won an individual national title under her mother’s coaching at Tulsa in 1988.”

• She posted a touching tribute to her mother on Instagram.

• “It is with great sadness that I share the passing of my mom Dale McNamara,” Luellen wrote. “An incredible mother, wife, coach, advocate, mentor and friend. Never backed down to a challenge and would always fight for ‘her girls.’ Girls being my sister Cathy and me and all of her @tulsawgolf players. She touched many lives and will live on in those she made a difference in. Rest in peace Momma.”

8. Westy confused

Mike Hall for Golf Monthly…“Lee Westwood has revealed that he has been offered the chance to compete on the Legends Tour (formerly known as the European Senior Tour) after he turns 50 even though the LIV Golf player’s ongoing eligibility to play on the DP World Tour is in doubt.”

• “The former World No.1 turns 50 next April, and, according to a report by The Telegraph’s Golf Correspondent James Corrigan(opens in new tab), that has led to an invite to play on the Legends Tour even though it is affiliated to the DP World Tour and falls under the remit of its CEO Keith Pelley.”

• “The future of LIV Golf players on the DP World Tour is in doubt pending a hearing set for February to determine if they will face suspension from it. However, Westwood explained that hasn’t stopped the invite from being made. He said: “Straight after the BMW PGA Championship last month – where those of us playing on LIV were made to feel unwelcome by some of those in charge – one of the Legends Tour execs got in contact and asked me if I will play in a few of their events when I pass that milestone, I don’t really want to mention, and he actually said there would be funds available to pay me.”

9. LIV Team Championship payout

• 2. Punch (Cam Smith, Marc Leishman, Matt Jones, Wade Ormsby) – $8million/$2million each

• 3. Smash (Brooks Koepka, Peter Uihlein, Chase Koepka, Jason Kokrak) – $6million/$1.5million each

• 4. Stinger (Louis Oosthuizen, Branden Grace, Charl Schwartzel, Hennie du Plessis) – $4million/$1million each