[PHOTO: Courtesy of LIV Golf]
Jon Rahm sat in a room in New York City wearing a LIV Golf varsity jacket and confirmed the worst kept secret in world sport: the reigning Masters champion has signed with the league.
Rahm, for more than a year, had previously publicised his apathy towards LIV Golf’s 54-hole tournaments, no cuts and shotgun starts. The Spaniard, a self-confessed golf history buff, had often spoke of his appreciation of the PGA Tour as the circuit where legends such as Jack Nicklaus, Arnold Palmer and Tiger Woods were made. Rahm himself was becoming a PGA Tour legend courtesy of 11 victories, including two majors, and over $US51 million in prizemoney.
Rahm had also previously said of LIV’s huge signing bonuses to players: “Would my lifestyle change if I got $400 million? It would not change one bit. Truth be told, I could retire now with what I have made and live a very happy life and not play golf again. I play for the love of the game, and I want to play against the best in the world. I’ve always been interested in history and legacy, and right now the PGA Tour has that.”
But since LIV’s June 2022 inception, Rahm also remained close with friends who had left for LIV such as fellow Masters champions, Sergio Garcia and Phil Mickelson. Rahm said that PGA Tour pros should be “thankful” for the increased money pouring into professional golf due to LIV’s investment. When Scottsdale, Arizona-based Rahm recently announced his withdrawal from the 2025 simulator golf league, TGL, a Florida-based Monday night league driven by PGA Tour greats Woods and Rory McIlroy, the rumour mill went into overdrive that Rahm was leaving.
That speculation was fuelled by reports that the Saudi Arabia Public Investment Fund-backed LIV league was paying Rahm a $US600 million ($A908 million) signing bonus. On Thursday afternoon in the US/Friday morning Australian time, the news was confirmed. The 29-year-old Rahm announced his move to LIV in a media call with several reporters. He said the intense speculation he was leaving the PGA Tour for LIV had been difficult.
“It’s been tough,” Rahm said. “It’s a topic of conversation that was out there on the golf course, every single day. People making jokes, people thinking that they know what they’re talking about. It’s been difficult to just focus on the task at hand and even just practise. I leaned on my family a lot for that. It hasn’t been the easiest way for my wife and I but easiest weeks to be fair, but you know, looking forward to the future. I feel like after weighing all the risks, it was very well worth it. And we’re very happy about it.”
Rahm did not address the mega sums he was rumoured to have been offered. But the 2021 US Open winner did acknowledge it was “a really good offer”.
“[Money] was one of the reasons, yeah,” he said. “I mean, I’m not gonna sit here and lie to you, so it was definitely one of the reasons… this decision was [made] for many reasons [like] what I thought was best for me, don’t get me wrong. It’s a great deal. Right? I had a really good offer in front of me, and it’s one of the reasons why I took it.”
Rahm’s press conference lasted for longer than 30 minutes. From the framework agreement to his Ryder Cup dilemma, he faced some pressing questions. Here are some of the biggest:
On his decision to join LIV:
“The past two years, there’s been a lot of evolving in the game of golf, right? Things have changed a lot and so have I… seeing the growth of LIV Golf, seeing the evolution of LIV Golf and the innovation is something that’s really captured my attention. And that’s why we’re here today.”
On the potential negative backlash to the LIV move:
“Well, every decision I feel like we make in life there will be somebody who agrees and likes it and somebody who doesn’t right? I made this decision because I believe is the best for me and my family and everybody I’ve been able to talk to has been really supportive of me. So I’m very comfortable with my position. I’m no stranger to hearing some negative things on social media or media. So it’s part of what it is we’re public figures, but you just learned to deal with it right? It’s just certainly won’t define who I am or change who I am. So I think we’ve experienced it. Just learn to deal with negativity a little bit better.”
On the concerns Rahm had signing with LIV:
“The biggest one, I think I can confidently say it was the Ryder Cup. I couldn’t talk to anybody about [whether joining LIV would impact his eligibility to play on the European team, which is owned by the DP World Tour]. So, I don’t know what’s gonna come of it. It’s a it’s a big risk to take, but I’ve had it in consideration and again, I’m hopeful that I can be part of the team again… I’m a very positive and hopeful person, so I hope for the best. My position with the Ryder Cup stands as it always has been: I love the Ryder Cup. I’ve explained many times how meaningful it is to me. I surely hope I can be in future editions of the Ryder Cup. That’s not up to me right now, but if it was up to me, I’ll be eligible to play so I surely hope I can keep up the good golf keep playing good golf and give him a reason to help me in the team.”
On the timing of the decision and why Rahm made it on December 7:
“I was just saying that what they had to offer was worth the risk to maybe not play in the Ryder Cup. The decision was for me and my family; what I believe is the better path for me right now. I think it was worth risking the Ryder Cup, although I do believe that we might see some changes on that. Don’t quote me really, I don’t know. But I hope we can see that happen.”
On LIV’s mega offer:
“I’ve been very happy but there is a lot of things that LIV Golf has to offer that were very enticing. It was a great offer. The money is great, obviously it’s wonderful. What I said before is true: I do not play golf for the money. I play golf for the love of the game and for the love of golf. But, as a husband, as a father and as a family man I have a duty to my family to give them the best opportunities and the most amount of resources possible and that is where that comes in.”
On Rahm’s previous public comments that LIV’s 54-hole, no-cut, shotgun-start format was not something he was interested in:
“For all those things that I like about this movement, there’s always going to be some things that are not perfect, but that’s the situation and everybody’s life, some things I can live with. With that said, it’s an ever-growing and ever-changing machine. I’m hopeful that the leaders of LIV Golf might listen to some of my advice and maybe see some changes in the future for the better of the game.”
On whether the progress of the framework agreement between LIV Golf’s financiers, Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund, and the PGA Tour and DP World Tour, influenced his decision to join LIV:
“I can’t speak on what I don’t know. I wish I knew more about where the framework agreement stands. I’ve kept myself absent from all that to be able to play the best golf that I can play. I found it to be a little distracting at times. I can’t comment on that. But there’s been some leaps in some growth towards the game of golf getting together and I surely hope for the future we can keep working towards making decisions that make golf better, right? That’s, my position. My position is to play golf and leave the game in a better position than I found it when I started playing golf. In Spain, which is my market, I always idolised Seve [Ballesteros] and how much he grew the game of golf in Spain, and indirectly worldwide, so hopefully I can do half as much as what he did. That would be a success.”
On whether he would attempt to play the PGA Tour and DP World tours, both of which have banned (or suspended) and fined members for playing LIV events:
“I can say that I do want to maintain my PGA Tour and DP World status. I will not give that up and hopefully with the freedom that LIV Golf gives me I can play in both of those tours as well. I’ve expressed how important the Spanish Open is to me in the past, and if we ever reached that point [to play in] certain PGA tour events, I still want to go and play as long as my schedule allows. So if possible, we’ll see what we can make happen.”
On any part of his decision to move being out of frustration with the direction of the PGA Tour and the stalemate with everything?
“No, no, no, no, I’m forever grateful for the PGA Tour and the platform they’ve they’ve allowed me to be on. I have nothing bad to say about them. They’ve given me the opportunity to play the game that I’ve always wanted to play and compete at some great events. This is just more about me, and what I believe is best for for my career.”
On giving up the opportunity to play legacy events on the PGA Tour such as the Genesis Invitational (which he won this year), the Arnold Palmer Invitational and Jack Nicklaus’ Memorial Tournament:
“It’s obviously something that matters. But what’s even better than that, is hopefully being a pioneer and being the ones that create the legacy that other people speak of in the future. Right. And that’s something that again, as ambitious as it may be, we have the opportunity to do right now and that’s something really exciting.”
On potential blowback from Rahm’s sponsors:
“[Discussions] have been in a very small circle for a very long time. But we’ve been able to speak to some sponsors and I can say that I’ve been informed by Callaway that they want to continue [our] partnership. So I’m looking forward to that and I’m eternally grateful that they want to still have their faith in me throughout this change.”
