Even wearing a LIV Golf baseball jacket while looking down the barrel of the camera lens, it’s hard to take Jon Rahm’s words as cold hard fact.
“This is me finally saying that after all the rumours… some of them were true, and I’ve officially joined LIV Golf,” Rahm told Fox News on Friday (AEDT).
Even if they take some time to sink in, however, those scarcely believable words are true.
The reigning Masters champion, and world No.3, is joining the controversial Saudi-backed league next year, reportedly for a sum that’s even harder to believe.
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Some reports have the figure nudging A$1bn — and while it’s likely that a large portion of that figure consists of potential future value through franchise equity, it’s multi-generational wealth for the Rahm family either way.
But even the rumoured A$908m windfall comes at a notable cost.
The scale of which will be determined in the coming days, or years, depending how the relationship between LIV and golf’s traditional tours develops.
In the immediate aftermath of the bombshell announcement, Rahm is facing accusations of hypocrisy, given his repeated denials of being interested in joining LIV Golf, and his criticism of the breakaway circuit.
Before Rahm made the move official, USA Today’s Golfweek had already published an article that included a timeline of every time Rahm had spoken out against LIV, and rejected claims he could join.
Headlining the lengthy list — it contains 11 entries — is the time Rahm said he only plays for the “love of the game”, and that A$600m couldn’t persuade him to join LIV because it “wouldn’t change my lifestyle one bit”.
Perhaps an extra A$300m will.
Needless to say, there are those swift to paint Rahm as money-hungry, and suddenly a villain having forged a reputation as a PGA Tour darling in recent years.
Even Rahm himself acknowledged that in taking the deal, after “declaring fealty” to the PGA Tour last year, he was running the risk of fracturing relationships.
“I hope all my friends stay my friends,” Rahm said.
‘A MAJOR F**K YOU’
Rahm is sure to come under fire for some time yet, but early signs suggest that criticism of the PGA Tour may allow him to circumvent the heaviest attacks.
Many voices, including several Tour pros, have refused to take aim at Rahm, and instead have pointed the finger at the PGA Tour for what appear to be bungled negotiations with Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund (PIF) to unite world golf.
In June, players on both sides of golf’s divide were blindsided when a framework agreement to form a new golf entity was announced by the PGA and DP World Tours and LIV Golf’s paymasters, PIF.
The next phase of negotiations were expected to bring a swift end to golf’s civil war, but six months later, a deal is yet to be finalised.
A self-imposed deadline of December 31 to ratify the deal is almost certain to be missed — and that says nothing of the chaos at PGA Tour headquarters, which have been described by insiders as a “mess”.
That Rahm was willing to jump ship at a time the merger was meant to be on the verge of being ticked off only speaks to just how far apart the parties are.
This was former US Open champion Justin Rose’s immediate concern when asked by the Golf Channel for his reaction to Rahm defecting.
“Jon’s a huge coup for LIV and a huge blow for the PGA Tour,” Rose said.
“It definitely comes at a very interesting time where negotiations are happening … you can look at it both ways. Maybe things aren’t going well on one side of things, and the recruiting is starting pretty hard again (by LIV).”
Rose’s concerns are backed up by a report from PGA Tour insider Dan Rapaport, who says that the deal is “in jeopardy”.
Multiple sources told Rapaport that behind-the-scenes at the PGA Tour’s Florida headquarters is “a mess” with reports of players hijacking the merger talks, while those involved in striking the initial agreement have been frozen out.
Rapaport reports that Jimmy Dunne and Ed Herlihy, key PGA figures who helped make the framework agreement with PIF, haven’t been involved in talks since June, while the balance of the PGA Tour board has now tipped in favour of players.
A chief voice among those is said to be Patrick Cantlay, who is reportedly pushing for the PGA Tour to favour a deal with private-equity group Acorn Growth Companies over PIF.
As such, questions have been raised about what Rahm’s split for LIV really means given its curious timing.
“The Rahm move, then, would seem to suggest the PIF is preparing for a future with no deal and refocusing their efforts on building their own tour and putting themselves in a position of strength,” Rapaport wrote for Barstool Sports.
Seperately, he posted on X: “What a major ‘f**k you’ from LIV to the PGA Tour right before the Dec. 31 deadline for a deal.
“Like: “oh, you thought we were finished?”
“Can’t imagine the scenes at PGA Tour HQ right now.”
Meanwhile, LIV Golf’s most outspoken critic since its inception, Rory McIlroy, offered little sympathy for the PGA Tour in the wake of Rahm’s announcement.
Once the PGA Tour’s chief warrior against LIV, McIlroy has since quit his role on its policy board having been badly burned by the organisation’s secret talks with his sworn enemy.
He now believes that the PGA Tour has made its bed in terms of big-name defections.
“Is it disappointing to me? Yes, but the landscape of golf changed on June 6, whenever that framework agreement was announced,” he told Sky Sports’ Jamie Weir.
“I think because of that, it made the jump from the PGA Tour to LIV a little bit easier for guys.
“They let the first guys really take the heat, (then) this framework agreement really legitimised, basically, what LIV was trying to do.
“Then I think it’s made it easier now. If that’s really what you want to do.”
‘IT SUCKS’
Regardless of the state of merger negotiations, Rahm was pitched an amount of money that two years ago would’ve been inconceivable for a golf star — outside of Tiger Woods — to make.
Rahm is now poised to become one of the highest earners in all world sport, and one of the wealthiest of all-time.
The benefit of that wealth will not only extend to his wife, two children and broader family, but will likely trickle down for generations.
As such, fellow pros are yet to offer any ill-feeling towards Rahm publicly.
“Everyone has a number unfortunately, in this case,” Jason Day told the Golf Channel. “I wish him nothing but the best.”
He added: “If there was ever a person to go across it’d probably be him. Just because he’s got at least the next five years of majors (through exemptions) and the Masters for the rest of his life.
“I understand some guys do it for the money, and the majority of the time it is for the money, which I have no problem with, it’s just unfortunate that we’re going to lose one.
“It would’ve been nice to get past this deadline and see where things kind of fall before making a decision, but I can’t fault him for making the decision for himself and his family.”
Fellow pro Colt Knost was of the same opinion, saying he’s “pretty sure” he’d also join LIV for a big-money offer.
Nonetheless, the division the coup will continue to fuel, within the backdrop of those stalled PGA-PIF negotiations, only adds to concerns for the sport.
“It sucks for the game of golf,” Knost told PGA Tour radio.
“Money can change anything as Day said. But the divide in the game is just not fun right now.
“As a guy who loves golf as much as anybody … I just hate what’s happening. I’m happy for my friends to make all this money, but to see possibly half playing somewhere and half another place, it’s not good. It’s not what we want to see.
“I never in my lifetime thought I’d see this happen to the PGA Tour and to professional golf.”
Australian golf commentator Luke Elvy, however, hit out at those who have created “a circus” around Rahm’s departure.
Instead, he believes his signing will ultimately be a key event in an eventual unification for golf.
“The entire circus and criticism around Jon Rahm moving to LIV is what’s disgusted me about this disruption from day one,” he posted on X.
“Every major government and big corp, even the PGA Tour is arms wide open to Saudi (money).
“Stop the virtue signalling and ‘rules for thee but not me’ society. It stinks. #Hypocrisy
”(Rahm’s) departure will be the catalyst for unification. It simply has to happen as a global sport has to have a unified global tour.”