Months on from a supposed truce being agreed between the PGA Tour and the Saudi Public Investment Fund (PIF), we are still no closer to knowing how an apparent marriage between LIV Golf and the traditional tour could work.
The emergence of the Saudi-backed tour was a watershed moment in the world of professional golf, with some massive names jumping ship to take the riches on offer.
Jon Rahm was not one of stars that initially moved to LIV Golf, remaining on the PGA Tour for quite some time after its launch. However, after news of a potential deal between the two parties was reported, he would take a rumoured offer of around $600million from LIV back in December of 2023.
At the time, it was reported that Jon Rahm took the money on offer with the assumption that some sort of deal between the PGA Tour and LIV Golf was set to follow. The Spaniard would go on to suggest earlier this year that he hoped his departure could ‘expedite’ a deal between the tours.
However, that has not proven to be the case.
Speaking ahead of the Memorial Tournament, Xander Schauffele threw some subtle shade at Jon Rahm and his assumption that he was a big name enough name to force a merger between the two parties. The American would suggest that the only player with that level of influence would be Tiger Woods.
I can think of one guy who would really move the needle, that’s still playing. [He] only plays like four times a year or five times a year, but that guy really moves the needle, in my opinion.
But for guys that think that an individual will make this whole thing go faster, it’s probably thinking a bit highly of yourself, to be completely honest…
It’s going to run its course and everyone needs to get on the same page at some point, and that may take a while.
I don’t know what the time frame would be, but four, five years or I guess it might even be longer than that, who even knows? But this will just be a small blip everyone will laugh about.
Remember when golf was really fractured and everyone was talking crap about golf and where it is and all that stuff? You’ll laugh about it in five or six years.
It seems as though a deal between the PGA Tour and LIV Golf is still some way off, meaning Jon Rahm will not be returning to events on the traditional tour anytime soon
You get the sense that his former colleagues will not feel too much pity for him in this regard.
