This is the moment when everything becomes normal. When it is no longer a spectacle, controversial or even taboo. When it’s not about right or wrong or strong opinions or keeping it limited to the man. Jon Rahm’s move to LIV Golf is imminent, and this seems to be the final confirmation that this is the way things are. This is what the golf world is going to be like.
Because this isn’t someone chasing a payday like Dustin Johnson or Brooks Koepka. And this is no pariah turning down the PGA Tour like Phil Mickelson.
He is fond of golf. An obsessive. 29-year-old golf history buff who wakes up at 6 a.m. before the kids wake up and watches tournament reruns on YouTube, who harasses golfers during rounds to learn more about the famous shots they hit. Seve respects his Spanish childhood idols such as Ballesteros. and Jose Maria Olazabal. This is the same man who shut down LIV rumors in the summer of 2022 by saying that he and his wife agreed that the LIV money would not change their lives at all. “I’ve always been very interested in history and legacy,” Rahm said, “and that’s the same with the PGA Tour right now.”
Now!, Looking back, this was the main choice of words.
The moment Jay Monahan and the PGA Tour went behind the players’ backs and struck a deal with Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund (the financiers of LIV), it changed the math. Yes, in the short term, it ended countless lawsuits and it put a temporary ban on LIV poaching players. But it also had two other unintended consequences. One, it caused the players to lose confidence in Monahan, which is unlikely to be regained. But the less-discussed outcome is the one that has brought us to this moment: the deal with PIF normalized it. And removing that taboo could remove the PGA Tour’s best protection.
Let’s go back a bit. You might be wondering, “Aren’t the PGA Tour and PIF working toward a deal? Why is LIV still poaching players?” This is an important question. The June 6 framework agreement set a December 31 deadline for pursuing a deal in good faith. It is difficult to know from the outside how good their confidence is and whether they are close to a deal. As far as October is concerned, athleticBrendan Quinn reported that sources on both sides were skeptical of a deal being reached. And it’s no secret that the PGA Tour is talking with other investors as to emergency plans if it loses billions of dollars of Saudi funding (though some reports claim those investors could be in addition to PIF). .
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So why bother Rahm? why now? One can take this as LIV, understanding that no deal may happen and it has to continue growing its product. It’s the simplest logic, and taking down the reigning Masters champion and world No. 3 player is the biggest draw ever. According to The Telegraph, the price of one is reported to be $566 million. LIV has produced some of the all-time great players like Mickelson and Johnson. And some current stars like Koepka and Cameron Smith have entered it. But depending on your opinion, Rahm may actually be the best player in the world, and he is in his prime.
The second theory is that it is a bargaining chip. A huge, challenging bargaining chip. The PGA Tour has the advantage of attracting other investors, who already have big TV deals and all the relationships with sponsors that want LIV. LIV’s best leverage in the conversation may be to include superstars like Rahm and bring the PGA Tour back to the table for a substantial conversation. Do you want your star back? make a deal. Monahan and PIF Governor Yasser Al-Rumayyan are scheduled to meet for talks this week, and perhaps in a month we will all look back on this as a dramatic step that brought golf together. Maybe, just maybe.
But the absurdity is how the PGA Tour got itself into such a troubled situation in the first place, so let’s assume for the sake of conversation that Rahm has left the PGA Tour and the battle is back on indefinitely.
This affects seizures in a much deeper, more disturbing way. This is the man who once famously declared “my allegiance to the PGA Tour” and endorsed Monahan just three months ago and has now taken stock of the situation and said he thinks it will be a disaster for his career. There is a better option for. It’s very, very different. Because it’s no longer a taboo, polarizing option that shocks the world. Rahm thought it was the better move, and it meant he wouldn’t be the last.
Perhaps his Masters win changed things. Rahm is such a legacy person. And now Rahm has a lifetime exemption for the Masters. His 2021 U.S. Open win takes him into that major through 2031, and he has four more years of exemption for the PGA Championship and The Open Championship. So at the very least, he’s still ready for the next 16 Majors, and I’m sure he believes things will change by 2027 to ensure that LIV players get better OWGR conditions.
This may have to be done. Because this may be the last chance to acknowledge that we live in a world with two major golf leagues. If we were really honest with ourselves, the PGA Tour would still own the golf landscape by 2023. It had all the best young players and the top three or four players in the world, and of course it was disappointing that Koepka, Johnson, Smith and so on weren’t there every week, but we still saw them extensively and that’s really never been the case. Didn’t seem like a big issue either. Rahm (and whoever is now at fault) takes us closer to two weaker leagues. It’s bad for everyone.
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I would like LIV to be a good product. Eventually, I conceded defeat on my moral high ground and said I wanted to see Smith and Koepka, two golfers I greatly admire. Right now, LIV is a really inferior product, from the courses to the presentation to the actual golf. Initial reports of Rahm’s possible departure stated that Rahm wanted assurances that LIV would change its format. It’s unclear if this is on the table at all, but OWGR isn’t shying away from not giving points to a league that plays fewer full rounds than others. Perhaps all this leads to LIV becoming a better product.
But the mere fact that we are even discussing the desire to improve LIV, the reality that we are thinking about two leagues and accepting their co-existence, brings us to the real point. Is. Joining LIV is no longer scandalous. It won’t get you cancelled. This is just another drop in the slow pace of the new normal.
In August Rahm was asked what change he wanted to see on the PGA Tour. This was not a big picture issue, an issue that would force people to leave. It wasn’t the money, the branding or the format.
“I know it’s going to sound pretty stupid,” Rahm said, “but something as simple as placing a weird port-a-potty on every hole. I know it sounds crazy, but I can’t choose whether I When to go to the bathroom?
Rahm wasn’t trying to escape the PGA Tour. He was just ready to go to LIV, and you can’t help but think that all of golf is stuck in it.
(Top photo: Ross Kinnard/Getty Images)
