PGA Championship 2026: Jon Rahm now says he didn't think move to LIV would be a tipping point for deal
Jon Rahm is LIV's most successful player, and he says he doesn't question his move from the PGA Tour to Saudi-backed league
NEWTOWN SQUARE, Pa. — There are two stories you can tell about Jon Rahm's jump to LIV Golf in 2024. The first is that the framework agreement between LIV and the PGA Tour opened up an opportunity for him to make an obscene amount of money with the high likelihood that the two tours would officially merge before too long, and that if the tour would deal with LIV, why couldn't he?
The second story contains the first story but adds a crucial detail: that Rahm thought he was important enough to force that merger with his defection. As in, "If I go, the tour can't hold out any longer. " MORE: Your Vibes-Only guide to the PGA Championship In remarks made to the BBC at the time, Rahm seemed to give fuel to the second version.
"I could be the start of a tipping point in that sense," Rahm said. "I understood the weight that [my] decision could have and the impact it could have. I understood that perfectly and that's why it wasn't an easy decision.
... Luckily, in my career, especially last year, I accomplished a lot and I got to be one of the bigger names in golf. There are few active players that could have had a bigger impact than myself in that sense.