GAUGUSTA, GA — Jon Rahm maintains that his decision to go from the PGA Tour to LIV Golf was the right one, even though it caused a rift between the game’s traditional players and those who could emerge as leaders. However, he also resides in Phoenix, the site of the wild and exuberant WM Phoenix Open, giving him a close-up view of one of the Tour’s main tournaments.
Rahm remarked on Tuesday morning, “Seeing the stands and knowing that I wasn’t going to be there was quite hard.” Rahm had to drive past Phoenix frequently.
Every door opens wide once you’ve achieved a certain amount of popularity in the golf industry, which usually coincides with your first green jacket appearance. At Augusta National, for example, you’re welcomed for life into chambers and realms most people will never see.
For someone like Rahm, the reigning Masters champion, to see doors that were once wide open to him now locked and chained shut must be a little startling.
“I miss being at certain venues, not just because I won, but just because I love it,” he remarked. And for that reason, I did well in those competitions. It wasn’t easy not to be at [PGA Tour stops during the early season] Palm Springs, Torrey, Phoenix, and Los Angeles.
In addition to his prior “fealty” to the Tour, Rahm’s move to LIV was the most startling defection this side of Rory McIlroy and Tiger Woods because of what he stands for: golf’s boundless global potential.
He defended LIV’s 54-hole, no-cut, team-focused, and infrequently attended events on Tuesday morning. Depending on how you feel about LIV Golf in general, you may or may not think he was just making excuses.
“I’ve really enjoyed participating in those events. There is still competition, he declared. Yes, the fields are smaller, but winning such events still requires you to play at the same caliber as the PGA Tour and defeat some of the finest players in the world. Thus, that remains unchanged.
The problem for Rahm and LIV Golf as a whole is that the breakaway team’s hostility to and separation from the Tour continues to characterize the organization as a whole. It is competition, indeed. It is a fresh task, indeed. Team golf is a unique twist, really. However, Rahm and other LIV users still believe that the traditional methods have merit.
“I still adore the PGA Tour, I still wish for the best, and I still hope to compete there in the future.”