Jon Rahm believes there is a way the PGA Tour and LIV Golf can co-exist if “some type of peace is achieved.”
The two-time major champion speculated whether some players wouldn’t be happy when he returns to the Masters as a LIV Golf player in 2024 but insisted a deal between golf’s rival entities should be the way forward.
Since Rahm joined the Saudi-funded league in December, the PGA Tour and the Public Investment of Saudi Arabia, the bankrollers of LIV Golf, still haven’t signed a formal alliance having announced an initial framework agreement in June last year.
Efforts were made to accelerate negotiations when PGA Tour player directors met with PIF governor Yasir Al-Rumayyan in the Bahamas on Monday, and Rahm, who is now suspended from playing on the PGA Tour, is excited about the prospect of competing with old foes again at Augusta National next month.
“I just want to see again the best in the world being able to compete against the best in the world,” he said.
“I’m definitely looking forward to joining with the rest of the best golfers in the world and teeing it up in the Masters with them.
“I’m assuming there will be quite a few that are not happy, but from my side, nothing changes. I still respect everybody on both sides and respect the game of golf above all.
“I think there’s a way of coexisting and if there’s some type of union – I don’t know what that looks like. If there is some type of peace achieved, I think it can actually push the game forward.”
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As the 29-year-old has now swapped allegiances to LIV, where he now captains a team called Legion XIII, he is ineligible to play in PGA Tour events such as last week’s Players Championship which was won by Scottie Scheffler, with Wyndham Clark, Xander Schauffele and Brian Harman in contention too.
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Although he is still a member of the DP World Tour, the Telegraph has reported Rahm has received suspensions for each of the events four LIV events he has played in this season. It was only a matter of time until suspensions came his way as the tour earned the right to dish out sanctions on LIV players last April via a sports arbitration panel.
Rahm won four times on the PGA Tour last year before completing his groundbreaking move to Greg Norman’s roster, but he wasn’t able to defend any of these crowns in 2024. He is also the defending Spanish Open champion in Europe.
“For everybody who said this would be easy, some things have been, but not being able to defend some titles that mean a lot to me hasn’t,” he added.
“I am looking forward to hopefully having a great week and a great Sunday back-nine showdown with some of those great players (at the Masters) because at the end of the day, it’s what golf and spectators deserve.”
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Image credit (LIV Golf)
