The 29-year-old Masters champion’s large financial transfer to Saudi-backed LIV Golf causes yet another upheaval in the sport.
In a startling move that widens the gulf in golf, Masters winner Jon Rahm left for Saudi-funded LIV Golf for a reported sum greater than the PGA Tour’s total prize money. The two parties were in the midst of finalizing a business agreement.
In a Fox News interview on Thursday, Rahm confirmed the change. He claimed that it was not an easy choice while sporting a black letterman’s jacket with the LIV insignia.
“I’ve been really content,” Rahm remarked. However, LIV Golf has a number of offerings that were really alluring.
Despite rumors that his remuneration was in the $500 million area and presumably included shares in his new team, he declared he would not disclose the exact value of the contract. In2023, the PGA Tour will have a purse of roughly $460 million.
This development occurs 25 days before the deadline for the PGA Tour and Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund to try to finalize their agreement to become commercial partners in a for-profit venture, in conjunction with the European tour, on June 6.
There are a lot of moving pieces, as Tiger Woods stated last week, and the talks have been progressing slowly. The most significant change was the 29-year-old Rahm, the world’s third-ranked player and two-time major champion who is getting close to retirement, becoming the newest player to leave.
Rahm had insisted that he only cared about history and legacy and that he had plenty of money. He previously claimed that every time he saw his name associated with LIV, he “laughed.”
It was a really good deal. The money is fantastic, without a doubt,” Rahm remarked.
However, it’s true what I previously stated: I don’t play golf for financial gain. I play golf because I enjoy the game and golf itself. However, I have a responsibility to my family as a husband, father, and family guy, and that is where that comes in, to provide them with the best opportunities and resources available.
The Spaniard will play in his first LIV event from February 2-4 at LIV Golf Mayakoba in Mexico, which is the league’s season opener.
For the next five years, he can still compete in the majors; the Masters is his forever home, and the US Open is open until 2031. How the transfer impacts his Ryder Cup eligibility is still up in the air.
“It’s difficult to stand here and be critical of Jon because of what a fantastic golfer he is,” Rory McIlroy remarked in a Sky Sports interview. “Jon will be in Bethpage for the Ryder Cup in 2025.” The European tour will need to revise its regulations as a result of this judgment. There is no doubt about that.
With Rahm’s acquisition, LIV Golf now has seven of the previous 14 major winners.
Yasir al-Rumayyan, the head of the PIF, was supposed to meet with PGA Tour Commissioner Jay Monahan this week. Delays in the meeting until next week raised questions about whether it was still going to happen and how Rahm’s announcement would impact the discussions.
Private equity firms have made offers to the tour since the June 6 proposal of the amazing commercial alliance. Among them are Acorn Growth, which is led by former AT&T chairman Randall Stephenson, and Fenway Sports Group. Out of disapproval of the PGA Tour’s agreement with Saudi Arabia, he resigned from the board.
The Justice Department’s concerns about antitrust led to the removal of the agreement’s initial clause against player poaching.
Rahm’s decision to sign with LIV goes against everything he has stated about the league. He has stated that he supports the PGA Tour till February 2022. He most recently said about August on a program in Spanish, “I chuckle when people rumor me with LIV Golf.” The format has never appealed to me.
A shotgun start and 54 holes with no cut, according to him, “is not a golf competition.”
At the US Open last year, he declared, “I want to play against the greatest in the world in a format that’s been going on for hundreds of years.” “That is my desired outcome.”
In the Fox interview, he sang a different song, claiming that although money played a role, there were other factors “that make it so fascinating.”
“It is something that is so, so wonderful if you get beyond that—the love of the game, wanting to take it to a global market, being a part of a team, captaining the team, and hopefully leading teammates—” Rahm remarked.