By Frank Pingue
AUGUSTA, Georgia (Reuters) – Masters champion Jon Rahm said on Tuesday he had hoped his stunning move to LIV Golf would have helped expedite a deal between the PGA Tour and Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund and reunite the game’s top players.
The Spaniard made the lucrative jump to the rebel circuit last December while the PGA Tour and Saudi Arabian backers of LIV Golf were apparently working towards finalizing a definitive partnership agreement that has yet to materialize.
Speaking to reporters at Augusta National Golf Club ahead of his Masters title defense this week, world number three Rahm admitted part of his motivation to join LIV Golf was that it would play a role in reuniting the fractured sport.
“I understood my position, yes. And I understood that it could be, what I hoped, a step towards some kind of agreement, yes. Or more of an agreement or expedited agreement,” said Rahm.
“But unfortunately it’s not up to me. But I would hope it would be something that would help expedite that process. But at the end of the day, I still did what I thought was best for myself.”
The PGA Tour has since secured a $3 billion investment into a new for-profit entity from a consortium of U.S. sports team owners as part of a deal that allows for co-investment from the Public Investment Fund.
Rahm, who earned more than $51 million on the PGA Tour, accepted a reported $300 million to join LIV Golf eight months after his Masters triumph. The 29-year-old Spaniard acknowledged that decision will alter his legacy.
“Well, luckily it’s still quite early in my career to be thinking about legacy. So it’s not really something I have in mind constantly,” said Rahm.
“I mean, will it change? Yeah. It’s a bit of a detour on my path. But change can be better.”
Now that LIV Golf has abandoned its bid for world ranking points, which play a role in determining entry into golf’s four majors, Rahm wants the decision makers to find a way to ensure the game’s best players still meet in the blue-riband events.
When asked how to make that happen, he suggested it was a solution better left for others.
“There’s a lot of people a lot smarter than me that could figure this out in a much more efficient way,” said Rahm. “But the obvious answer is that there’s got to be a way for certain players in whatever tour to be able to earn their way in.
“That’s the only thing can I say. I don’t know what that looks like. But there’s got to be a fair way for everybody to compete.”
(Reporting by Frank Pingue; Editing by Hugh Lawson)
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