International Courant
The 29-year-old Masters champion’s main cash switch to Saudi Arabia-backed LIV Golf is sending a brand new shockwave by way of the game.
Masters champion Jon Rahm has opted for Saudi-backed LIV Golf for what’s believed to be extra money than all the PGA Tour prize pool, a shocking blow that widens the gulf within the golf world as the 2 sides negotiate have been a few industrial deal.
Rahm confirmed the transfer in an interview with Fox Information on Thursday. Sporting a black letterman jacket with the LIV emblem, he mentioned it wasn’t a simple resolution.
“I have been very blissful,” Rahm mentioned. “However there are loads of issues that LIV Golf has to supply that have been very engaging.”
He mentioned he would preserve secret how a lot the deal was price amid stories estimating his compensation within the vary of $500 million, which might seemingly embody fairness in his new group. The PGA Tour’s whole income in 2023 was roughly $460 million.
The event comes 25 days earlier than the deadline for the PGA Tour because the Saudi Public Funding Fund seeks to finalize their June 6 settlement to change into industrial companions in a for-profit enterprise together with the European tour.
Talks are shifting slowly, and Tiger Woods mentioned final week there have been loads of shifting components. The largest shifting half turned out to be 29-year-old Rahm, the quantity three participant on the earth and a two-time main champion who was nearing his peak and was the final to defect.
Rahm was adamant that he has sufficient cash and all he cares about is historical past and legacy. He just lately mentioned he “laughed” each time he noticed his identify linked to LIV.
“It was an incredible supply. The cash is nice, it is clearly nice,” Rahm mentioned.
“However what I mentioned earlier than is true: I do not play for the cash. I play golf for the love of the sport and for the love of golf. However as a husband, as a father and as a household man, I’ve an obligation to my household to offer them the perfect alternatives and as many sources as potential, and that is the place that is available in.”
The Spaniard will make his LIV debut on the competitors’s season-opening occasion from February 2-4 at LIV Golf Mayakoba in Mexico.
He’ll stay eligible for the majors for the subsequent 5 years – the Masters for all times, the US Open till 2031. It’s but to be decided how this transfer will have an effect on his eligibility for the Ryder Cup.
“It is onerous to take a seat right here and criticize Jon for what an incredible participant he’s,” Rory McIlroy mentioned in an interview with Sky Sports activities. “Jon will likely be in Bethpage in 2025 (for the Ryder Cup). As a result of this resolution, the European tour must rewrite the principles. There is no such thing as a doubt about that.”
With the addition of Rahm, LIV Golf has seven of the final fourteen winners on the majors.
PGA Tour Commissioner Jay Monahan was as a consequence of meet with Yasir Al-Rumayyan, the pinnacle of the PIF, this week. The assembly was postponed till subsequent week, but it surely was not clear whether or not it will nonetheless go forward and the way Rahm’s announcement impacts negotiations.
Because the beautiful industrial partnership was proposed on June 6, the tour has additionally obtained affords from personal fairness teams. These embody Fenway Sports activities Group and Acorn Development, which incorporates former AT&T Chairman Randall Stephenson. He resigned from the PGA Tour board in protest of the cope with Saudi Arabia.
The settlement initially included language to finish participant poaching, however that was eliminated when the Justice Division had antitrust issues.
Signing with LIV goes in opposition to every thing Rahm has mentioned concerning the league. He has expressed his assist for the PGA Tour relationship again to February 2022, and just lately in August he advised a Spanish podcast: “I chortle when folks inform me about LIV Golf. I by no means preferred the format.”
He had mentioned that 54 holes and not using a reduce and a shotgun begin “will not be a golf event.”
“I wish to play in opposition to the perfect on the earth in a format that has been round for tons of of years,” he mentioned on the US Open final 12 months. “That is what I wish to see.”
He sang a special tune within the Fox interview, saying that whereas cash was an element, there have been different components “that make it so thrilling.”
“When you get previous that, the love for the sport, eager to develop into a world market and being a part of a group, being a captain and hopefully being a frontrunner for teammates, then it is one thing that is so particular,” mentioned Rahm.
Jon Rahm jumps to LIV Golf in beautiful blow to PGA Tour | Golf information
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