Why Jon Rahm's LIV Golf stance is surprising

Jon Rahm is paid a great deal of money to play for LIV Golf. Along with Bryson DeChambeau, he is the league’s biggest star.

You would think then that he would be playing an active part in negotiations to secure LIV’s future after the announcement that the Saudis’ Public Investment Fund (PIF) is pulling the plug on funding at the end of 2026. 

But no. While DeChambeau is very much involved at the sharp end, Rahm admits that he has refused to get involved.

Speaking in Spain, he said that not only does he not want to be involved but believes it would be a bad idea for LIV’s business leaders to include him in investor meetings, justifying it by saying that he knows nothing about business.

He said: "I know nothing about business. I’m never going to claim to know anything about business. And if I was in a business pitch, I would not know the first thing to say. My job is to play golf, and I’ll say it is hard enough as it is, especially this week."

He is surely missing the point. 

(Image Credit: Pedro Salado/LIV Golf)

Scott O'Neil, LIV’s CEO, needs to find new sponsors if there is to be any chance of the league surviving in anything like its current form. And those sponsors will surely be looking for a commitment from those who are currently signed up. They would want to speak directly to the likes of DeChambeau and Rahm and would want and need to be convinced that they remain committed.

It is interesting to note that while Rahm has now paid his outstanding fines to the DP World Tour, there has been no hint or suggestion that he might return to the PGA Tour. Brooks Koepka quit LIV at the start of the year and after paying a hefty charitable donation is now once again plying his trade on the PGA Tour. Patrick Reed is looking to follow him in 2027. 

Koepka was told that he could not play in the tour’s Signature Events until he qualified for them through his FedEx Cup standing. He has thus far failed to achieve that. It is safe to assume that Rahm would have to fulfil the same criteria.

The likes of Rory Mclroy is a millionaire many times over and I believe it is safe to assume that he would not describe himself as a businessman either but he has been at the forefront of moves to develop the PGA Tour. He is happy to front up and press the flesh of both existing and potential sponsors. It strikes me that Rahm expects everything to be handed to him on a plate.

DeChambeau’s contract expires at the end of the year so you would expect him to be looking elsewhere but by all accounts he is very much at the sharp end.

He said: "One door closes, another opens. I think that’s the way a lot of us are looking at it. We all have optimism that there is a business plan that makes sense for team golf. I’d quite honestly actually - how do I say it? I’m very optimistic with the business plan of team golf compared to other models, in my opinion."

He added that he was "giving all" he can to help LIV’s investment efforts.

"We’ll see if investors like it or not," he said. "I’m giving all I can to make it happen, and if it doesn’t, it doesn’t happen."

I am not Sergio Garcia’s biggest fan but he has also thrown his weight behind O'Neil.

He said: "We're really excited about the work that our CEO and his team are putting in. We enjoy being involved in it, giving our input and seeing how we can help make sure that the league keeps going forward.

"We're very confident that that's going to happen. It's just going to look different."

It is understood LIV are asking for between $250m-$350m to keep going in 2027 and believe they will be able to return a profit in 20 months. I remain to be convinced that this is a viable possibility. Rumours persist that the schedule for 2027 could be reduced from 14 to 10 tournaments and the prize money for each could be slashed to a maximum of $10m - they currently compete for $30m.