- Acquiring Jon Rahm, the world’s No. 3 golfer, would be a huge win for LIV Golf
- One of PGA’s premier players joining the opposite camp would change the sport
- DailyMail.com provides all the latest international sports news
Jon Rahm may no longer be a PGA golfer by as soon as Wednesday evening, as LIV Golf is ready to offer him a $600 million deal, the Saudi Arabian golf promotion’s highest-reported contract to date.
The news of Rahm defecting from the PGA to LIV comes under a loose truce between the golf leagues, with Rahm switching first being reported by The Telegraph.
The source said the move ‘could happen as soon as tomorrow [Weds] – if it happens.’
A former Ryder Cup player told The Telegraph ‘I think this will happen, and that Jason Day and Adrian Meronk [will join him].’
Another Ryder Cup alumnus told the outlet ‘I honestly know nothing and would just take everything as rumor if I were you.’
Masters champion Jon Rahm could join LIV Golf this week on a record $600 million deal
Rahm has been a prominent fixture on the PGA Tour since 2016, while Day has been with the PGA since 2006. Meronk has been a professional golfer since 2016.
Not only is Rahm the reigning Masters champion, he’s won 11 PGA events since turning pro, including the 2021 U.S. Open.
A few months ago, Rahm teamed with Rory McIlroy, helping lead Team Europe to a 5-point Ryder Cup victory over the United States.
Should Rahm join LIV Golf, his place in future Ryder Cups could be in jeopardy, as no European-based LIV was chosen for the squad. The Americans only chose Brooks Koepka from the LIV ranks.
However, blackballing Rahm from the biennial event doesn’t seem likely, bringing into question the eligibility for other European LIVers should Rahm make the switch.
Rahm taking the rouge Saudi league’s money would have ramifications that would change golf.
Any cordiality between the LIV and PGA would seemingly disappear if a player of Rahm’s quality were to jump ship.
Rahm himself being one of the best golfers in the world would change the everyday nature of both tours with a possible switch. PGA events would get easier to win with a heavy hitter in the opposite camp. LIV events would be more competitive.
The value of Rahm’s contract would be triple the next-highest reported amount for an LIV Golfer, with Phil Mickelson taking home a $200 million deal to sign with LIV Golf last June.
A few weeks ago, Mickelson came out swinging after golf writer Alan Shipnuck claimed the golfer had been telling people that Jon Rahm was headed to LIV Golf.
Shipnuck posted to social media last month that the lefty has privately been telling people that Masters champion Rahm’s defection to LIV Golf was a ‘done deal.’
However, the 53-year-old Mickelson jabbed back publicly.
‘This isn’t true and I don’t know anything,’ Mickelson responded. ‘I don’t want to know anything and I haven’t said anything. Alan is the worst liar and a pathetic human.’
Rahm and Mickelson share an agent, Steve Loy, and Shipnuck said the lefty is a ‘relentless salesman/bulls*** artist, so take that for what it’s worth’ before Mickelson responded to the report himself.
Shipnuck retorted to Mickelson’s denial a few hours later.
‘I guess Phil tweeted at me? I wouldn’t know since he’s blocked me in a classic tough-guy move,’ Shipnuck posted to X. ‘But we all know that what he says publicly and privately are *very* different.’
While a Rahm move to LIV Golf has been rumored for some time, Mail Sport reported sources close to the 29-year-old firmly dismissed the switch from the PGA Tour last month.
However, prominent players from LIV are privately optimistic that the Spaniard could be swayed by the lucrative, mega-million-dollar offered the breakaway has previously used to successfully lure some of golf’s biggest names away from the PGA Tour.