Is Jon Rahm having an existential crisis?
Maybe not, but the two-time major champion and two-time winner of The American Express in La Quinta is certainly not on what is believed to be the script for most LIV golfers. That script is supposed to go something like, well, I like what LIV does, it is better than the PGA Tour, it’s not all about the money and we are trying to grow the game.
Rahm keeps wandering off the script, especially in the last month.
At the Masters, for instance, Rahm talked about how LIV needs to strongly consider going to a 72-hole format rather than the 54-hole format that is one of its distinguishing characteristics. One of the criticisms of LIV is that format, though there are others who have no problem with it. Rahm, however, would like to see it changed.
Then came the Masters itself, where Rahm didn’t play well. And he looked miserable in Butler Cabin waiting to put the green jacket on new champion Scottie Scheffler.
Now comes Rahm doubling down on comments he made earlier this year about wishing he could still play in some of his favorite PGA Tour events. Obviously, he still gets to play in the four majors, which are not controlled by the PGA Tour. But when he left the PGA Tour in December to join LIV, it meant being suspended from other PGA Tour events.
It might not make anyone at The American Express feel better, but their tournament is one that Rahm misses. While saying he’s playing all 14 LIV events this year, the four majors and the Ryder Cup, Rahm laments the open weeks of the calendar where he could be back in his favorite places, including the Coachella Valley.
Masters champion Scottie Scheffler sits next to 2023 Masters champion Jon Rahm during the green jacket ceremony after Scheffler won the 2024 Masters Tournament. (Photo: Rob Schumacher-USA TODAY Network)
Loving California
“There’s some PGA Tour events that if it’s not conflicting with my LIV schedule I’d love to go play. I’ve said numerous times and I’ll say it again, Palm Springs (The American Express), Torrey Pines (in San Diego), Phoenix, L.A., if I’m allowed to be able to play, the Players. Those are events that if I could, I would love to play.”
Three of those tournaments — The American Express, The Farmers Insurance Open in San Diego and the Genesis Invitational in Los Angeles — are tournaments Rahm has won. He has always expressed a love for West Coast events, in particular Torrey Pines and the city of San Diego.
So is this buyer’s remorse from Rahm, who signed with LIV for something reported to be just short of $600 million? Or is it just a guy who can’t help being honest, a trait that made him popular with his fellow players and media members when he played on the PGA Tour?
Either way, Rahm is making a case — whether he knows it or not — for the PGA Tour and LIV to reach a deal and get to it sooner rather than later. The PGA Tour began doling out equity money to its players this week, money aided by the Tour’s $3 billion deal with Strategic Sports Group. But another deal with the Saudi Arabian Public Investment Trust is out there, with talks ongoing. That deal could bring more money to the PGA Tour, but it could also work to unify a game that has been divided by defections from the PGA Tour to LIV.
Rahm’s jump to LIV in November and his inability to defend three PGA Tour titles in the first seven weeks of this season, including The American Express, seemed to be a tipping point for many fans. Since then, PGA Tour ratings have been down around 20 percent (the American Express ratings were actually up in January) and many fans have said they have lost some interest in the professional game.
Rahm certainly isn’t speaking for all LIV players when he talks about 72-hole tournaments and wanting to expand his schedule by playing a handful of PGA Tour events that he really enjoys. But for now, Rahm is the biggest signing LIV has over the last two years short perhaps of Phil Mickelson in 2022. So when he talks with a certain discontent in his comments, the powers on both sides of the professional golf divide probably need to be listening.
Larry Bohannan is the golf writer for The Desert Sun. You can contact him at (760) 778-4633 or at larry.bohannan@desertsun.com. Follow him on Facebook or on Twitter at @larry_bohannan. Support local journalism. Subscribe to The Desert Sun.