The news is now official: Jon Rahm is leaving the PGA Tour for LIV Golf.
The world No. The PGA Tour will be devastated by the loss of the world No. What will be the growth of LIV as a result? What will be the impact on the framework agreement between Tour and Saudi Arabia Public Investment Fund?
What does this mean for Rahm? The 29-year old Spaniard, who is a major champion twice over, still holds a great respect for the PGA Tour as well as the DP World Tour where he won 11 and 10, respectively. The passion he has for the Ryder Cup is as fiery as his personality. Rahm said that the biannual bash against Americans was his biggest obstacle on the road to LIV. Rahm spoke with reporters on Thursday night and gave an insight into his future. He also discussed playing in both tours as well as the Ryder Cup.
My position on the Ryder Cup remains unchanged. I love the Ryder Cup. “I’ve told you many times what it means to me and I hope that I can participate in future Ryder Cups,” he said. “That’s up to them right now but if I had my way, I would be eligible to participate. I hope to keep up the good play and keep playing well golf to give them a good reason to include me in the team.”
“I am adamant that I want to keep my DP World and PGA Tour status. Rahm said, “I will not give up that status and I hope that with the freedom LIV Golf provides me, I can also play on both tours.” I’ve said how important the Spanish Open was to me, and if and when we reach that point, there are still certain PGA Tour tournaments I want to play for as long as it is possible. We’ll try to make it happen if we can.
How soon will we be able to see Rahm on Tour again? LIV Golf will open its 2024 season at Mayakoba, Mexico on Feb. 2-4. Rahm has won three PGA Tour tournaments – The Sentry Open, American Express Open and Farmers Insurance Open – that will be held prior to LIV Golf Mayakoba. Rahm may be able to play if the framework agreement is completed by the deadline of Dec. 31. He wasn’t even on the list of early committers for the AmEx where he was the defending champion.
Rahm says he will miss winning signature events like the Memorial Invitational and Genesis Invitational. “But what’s better than that? Being a pioneer, and creating the legacy of which others can speak in the future,” Rahm explained. “That is something we can do now, no matter how ambitious it may seem. That’s really exciting.”
Rahm’s decision to join LIV was explained by him as a major talking point. His move is a big gamble, even with the 600 million chips he reportedly has in his possession. Rahm was attracted to the idea of being a team captain and owner – more details will be forthcoming on this front. Rahm believes LIV will be his opportunity to leave his mark in the sport.
“My position is that I play golf.” Rahm stated that he strives to play golf at the highest level and to leave the game better than when he started. “This has been my goal since a long time,” Rahm added. “I have always admired (Seve) Ballesteros and the amount he has done to grow golf in Spain and indirectly around the world. I hope that I can achieve half of what he achieved, which will be a great success,” Rahm said.
He added, “If I could do my part to improve golf in Spain, and other places around the world, that would be an amazing accomplishment, even if only 50 percent of Seve’s work was achieved, which is still very ambitious, because Seve was such a unique and polarizing person.” “I believe that would be an extremely successful achievement. That’s my aim, so I hope we can continue working towards it.”
Is he ambitious, or is he naive. Only time will tell.
