Jon Rahm, off to Saudi backed Golf.

Tbf, the pga haven’t exactly shone themselves in a good light. Understandable they are wanting to move
 
The whole thing seems to be a sham. This bollox last June when they announced "a merger" to let the Liv players play the traditional big events was probably a product of the Saudis giving the PGA a wad of cash.

PGA don't look good at all.
 
sambaDTR said:
“I play golf for the love of the game and for the love of golf. I'm an ambitious person but I'm not a greedy one”.

FFS.
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That's only part of the interview. The very next line he talks about the money and how it's too much to turn down. He's not denying it's as much about the money as anything else.

I'm fairly certain what he means by the line you have quoted is that when he is playing he's not thinking about the money. He doesn't win golf tournaments to make money.
 
Zoophonic said:
I thought the PGA and Liv had merged and all was sweetened. I am confused.
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It is confusing but it certainly is a mess.

My take is merger was a media term. It was more a newco that was to be sharing and co-operation on media and marketing as I read it. Operation of the two tours was going to remain separate, with some top player crossover (ie couple of PGAT teams playing liv “elevated” events)

However, shows there wasn’t substance/detail to the plan as have taken this long to formulate and implement.

Rahmbo may be helping push thru this change, or simply be bored with it. Comfort of lifetime masters and 5 years on other majors with chance to win those and extend.

Going to be interesting to see the next steps. PGAT have no where to go I don’t think. Media value crashing for PGAT and non-existent/limited for LiV (save from this drama).

Or it could all be scripted along WWE/WCW style story lines. 😂
 
I wonder if Rahm to LIV could've been avoided if the World Rankings would give points to LIV. It's farcical to have a system that doesn't find a way of ranking some top level players. Smith, Koepka, Dechambeau, DJ etc are all top level golfers and they are sliding down the WR. They can't continue to ignore LIV and having another player if Rahm's calibre shows how silly their position is. LIV might not have pushed for a player like Rahm, who I presume has cost them a lot, if the WR were recognising LIV events.

Bryson shot a 58 recently and he's 156th. He finished top 10 at a couple of majors etc. I don't necessarily agree with LIV but you can't take a world ranking seriously when you know it is leaving out players that should definitely be up there.
 
It's a pretty sad situation. It shows that - however well paid the top players are - some of them will jump ship to follow the money. If another tour appears from somewhere offering billions instead of hundreds of millions, then Rahm and co will join that.

It's not as if they are poorly paid on the PGA Tour.
7 players won more than $10 million
36 won more than $5 million
The average was $2.4 million
The bloke in 100th place won $1.75 million
That's a lot of money by any standard. In spite of this the players don't want to be obliged to play as many tournaments as they are, but be paid more for the event they do play. They get more from sponsorships too. And most of them don't help grow the game. They aren't prepared to give their time like the players did in the past.

This is going to bust the PGA Tour. They can't afford that. So the PGA Tour will feed LIV, the European Tour will feed the PGA Tour and so on. A ladder arrangement.
 
This will be a turning point. Rahm is one of, if not the best in the world at the minute and there will be a few others who follow and make it where there will have to be a crossover. It was always going to happen at some point.

Also, there's no way Europe won't pick Rahm for the Ryder Cup in 2 years, so that will open the door for others even more.

Its sad though, that the Saudi's have been allowed to do this within various sports, but it's not going away any time soon.
 
Soutra said:
It's a pretty sad situation. It shows that - however well paid the top players are - some of them will jump ship to follow the money. If another tour appears from somewhere offering billions instead of hundreds of millions, then Rahm and co will join that.

It's not as if they are poorly paid on the PGA Tour.
7 players won more than $10 million
36 won more than $5 million
The average was $2.4 million
The bloke in 100th place won $1.75 million
That's a lot of money by any standard. In spite of this the players don't want to be obliged to play as many tournaments as they are, but be paid more for the event they do play. They get more from sponsorships too. And most of them don't help grow the game. They aren't prepared to give their time like the players did in the past.

This is going to bust the PGA Tour. They can't afford that. So the PGA Tour will feed LIV, the European Tour will feed the PGA Tour and so on. A ladder arrangement.
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I don't want to come across as a Dechambeau fanboy by mentioning him two posts in a row because I'm not (I find him fascinating rather than likeable) but I was watching a podcast or a video he did with Rick Shiels the other day and he was saying that one of the things he can now do is have a Youtube channel. I watch quite a lot of Youtube golf and most of the pros that are on people's shows see it as a bit of a gimmick and they are doing it because it's been arranged through their contract with their club manufacturers etc. but he's genuinely into it and he's quite good at explaining concepts. He said now that money is taken care of one of his main aims is to grow the game, and his Youtube channel is one of the ways he is doing that. Interesting to see what else he does. I got the impression from the Full Swing documentary on Netflix that DJ was just happy to be doing less and he definitely didn't care about growing the game or anything like that.
 
Money will obviously play a huge part in the decision making process but I think the schedule appeals to a lot of the big name players too...

3 days a week instead of 4
Shotgun start so no waiting all day to tee off
Reduced amount of tournaments with a higher purse
No pressure of a cut line
Reduced media responsibilities
Team format
Still have access to the majors (for those exempt through winning previously)

More Money
Less Hours
Less Pressure

and lets face it...Rhambo could win the next 8 majors in a row and traditionalists would still be talking about Woods and McIlroy
 
From a fan perspective, I'm pretty gutted. I love Rahm, I love this persona and maverick style game. I often go to watch the golf whenever its in the UK and always make a beeline for Jon. You've never seen a golf ball penetrate the atmosphere like his balls, its majestic.

Whatever his motives, I hope it works out for him. I don't think he has to worry too much about WR points as he'll always be in contention at the Majors.
 
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