The confusing saga of the PGA Tour versus LIV golf continues (didn’t the PGA reach a truce with LIV?), and the LIV Tour was able to steal away one of the PGA’s brightest stars earlier today: Jon Rahm.
Just last year, the Spaniard was hesitant to even speak on LIV golf, and fast forward to today, he signed a deal with them for upwards of $600 million. As they say in the sports world, and the business world, and whatever other world you want to “insert here,” money talks.
Everyone thought the exodus from the PGA to the LIV Tour was mostly over, but Rahm changed that thought today by officially announcing that he was “changing teams” and moving over to LIV golf:
“I am proud to join the LIV Golf League and be part of something new that is bringing growth to the sport.
I have no doubt that this is a great opportunity for me and my family and am very excited for the future.”
During time with the media, Rahm was honest and open (for the most part) about his move and traversed through a number of difficult questions.
He was first asked about how he felt leaving behind the PGA Tour, an organization that he’s talked about meaning so much to him in the past:
“I’m forever grateful for the PGA Tour and the platform they allowed me to be on. I have nothing bad to say about them.
They’ve given me the opportunity to play the game I’ve always wanted to play and play in some great events, but this is more about me and what is best for my career.”
And a big hang up that Rahm had with leaving the PGA Tour was whether or not he would continue to be a part of the prestigious Ryder Cup. The Spaniard has voiced his love for the team-based tournament, and representing his country, many times before, and moving to the LIV Tour puts the ability for him to compete in it in jeopardy:
“I’ve explained many times how much the Ryder Cup means to me. I hope that I can be involved in future editions of the Ryder Cup. What they had to offer was worth the risk of maybe not playing a Ryder Cup.
I can confidently say it’s the Ryder Cup (that I was hung up on). I couldn’t talk to anybody about it so. I don’t know what’s gonna come of it.”
Finally, the professional golfer was asked about how long the deal with LIV Golf took to come together, and to that, Rahm said it wasn’t a drawn out process:
“It’s come together a lot quicker than some people maybe expected. The people involved with this who have been helping me out have had a few sleepless weeks. It’s been an exciting process, let’s say that.”
Yeah, anyone who is about to get paid more money (at least $300 million to be exact) to play less golf is going to be excited. He was even asked if money played a role in his decision, and he kept that answer relatively short:
“It’s one of the reasons, I’m not going to sit here and lie to you. It’s one of the reasons.”
You can view some more of Rahm’s thoughts on the move to LIV golf in the interview below:
