Leo Messi leaving Barça and winning the World Cup with Argentina. Novak Djokovic lifting 24 Grand Slam titles. The world of sports has been rich in recent years with news that not so long ago was impossible to conceive. The signing of Jon Rahm (Barrika, 1994) for LIV falls squarely into this category and blows up the world of golf in what is surely the most momentous moment in its history.
The Basque golfer has been linked to the controversial Saudi tour for months. Rumors to which he had always publicly responded, showing his fidelity to the so-called traditional golf, represented in this war by the PGA Tour and the DP World Tour, and highlighting his history and his legend. At the same time, it should not be ignored, Rahm has always been one of the players who has advocated the most for dialogue and consensus since the conflict broke out.
Finally, after many weeks of negotiations, Barrika decided to take the step and this Thursday at midnight, mid-afternoon New York time, the agreement was officially announced and speculation was put to an end. Rahm will play in LIV. A reality that changes many things and that will give a lot to talk about in the coming weeks.
The main reason for the Spanish golfer’s decision is, without a doubt, economic. Although the exact figures have not been revealed, some 500 million euros have been to blame for Rahm’s ‘escape’ to the Saudi circuit. The figure is infinitely greater than that received by some of those who will now be his main rivals in the LIV such as Dustin Johnson, Cameron Smith, Bryson DeChambeau or Brooks Koepka, whose check was around 100 million being, like the Basque, also champion of majors. Rahm will also cross paths from now on in the fields with Phil Mickelson, the greatest legend who competes in the LIV, and one of his main mentors since his university days. Mickelson himself has never hidden that he has acted as a commercial agent for the Saudis every time he played a few holes with Rahm to try to convince him.
Economic motivations being so important, they are not the only ones that have led the Basque to take such a controversial step. Rahm had always been reluctant to accept the offer and blow everything up. Publicly, he insisted time and again in his defense of traditional circuits. But since the war broke out in the world of golf, his estrangement from the governing bodies of the PGA Tour and some players has grown to a point of no return.
First it was Commissioner Jay Monahan who began making very belligerent unilateral decisions against everything that had to do with the LIV. But the leader was called up by the world’s leading golfers, who felt that they were not being taken into sufficient account in such a delicate scenario. Rory McIlroy quickly took charge and has shown himself to be one of the most active and critical players against everything that the Saudi circuit means. In recent months, he has been taken over by Tiger Woods, the new spokesman for the players’ union, also always a fervent opponent of the LIV, from which he rejected an offer of 800 million dollars. Rahm, who for many weeks has been number one in the world and is one of the most influential golfers today, feels that he and many other players have been left aside when it comes to making certain decisions and He believes that Monahan, McIlroy and Woods have too many vested interests.
Nor should we ignore the moment in which the signing is made official. Last June, an agreement was announced between the PGA Tour, DP World and the Saudi Investment Fund (PIF), owner of the LIV, which seemed to end the war. But that writing, of which details remain unknown, has not yet crystallized and must do so before December 31. With Tiger Woods at the helm, talks with Yasir Al-Rumayyan, governor of the PIF, are more than open, trying to find a point of agreement between the interests of all parties and the signing of Rahm can be a very powerful negotiating weapon. The fact that it is realistic that a definitive agreement will be produced that allows LIV players to earn world ranking points and compete in Grand Slam tournaments has been another incentive for Rahm’s yes.
