In the two years that preceded his shock departure from the PGA Tour, Jon Rahm said a lot about LIV golf.
He said that the format of the league, which is backed by Saudi Arabia, was the main selling point. This is in addition to the huge amount of money being offered.
“To be honest with you, I don’t find the format of (LIV) very appealing. To me, shotgun three days is not a tournament of golf. There will be no cut. Rahm told the U.S. Open 2022 that it was as simple as that. “I want the opportunity to compete against the world’s best players in a format which has been around for hundreds of year.” “That’s what I hope to see.”
Speaking to reporters before the announcement on Thursday, Rahm expressed his hope that “the leaders of LIV Golf would listen to some my advice and perhaps see some future changes for the betterment of the sport.”
During the Zoom conference, the 29-year old Spaniard spoke with a lot of caution about the future of the league and hinted that there could be some changes coming. How would the LIV players react to a change from 36 holes to 72 and the addition a cut? It depends on who you talk to.
Talor Gough told Golf Digest that “(Rahm), has been vocal about certain things he doesn’t like, but he would not have come to LIV thinking he’d win 10 tournaments in a year with no competition.” He’s a real competitor. “It’s beyond exciting to have Rahm.”
Gooch is the LIV 2023 individual champion . He was recently traded by Bubba Watson from RangeGoats GC, to Brooke Koepka’s Smash GC in exchange for Matthew Wolff. There are both sides. Some players would like to see 72-holes, and others don’t. There will be discussions and it will be interesting to see the outcome.
“I believe LIV Golf was intended to be different. I don’t think it should be a carbon-copy of the rest professional golf. I’m in favor of keeping it to 54 holes. “Thursdays are irrelevant to fans from a fan’s perspective, and that was also my experience from the PGA Tour.”
You can say the same if you have been to any LIV events, including some Friday rounds and even Saturday ones.
LIV officials have often used this analogy to describe the first two years of the league. They said that the LIV was building a plane in the air. The league is known for being player-friendly, with fan-free pro am rounds, press conferences that include up to four players and one day less work compared to Tour. LIV is more flexible than the PGA Tour and can change its operating model.
It’s not that the players are now playing 54 holes with no cut. It may be sufficient if the format is what it takes to attract a superstar like Rahm. Time will tell.
