Golf without borders. This is, in broad terms, what Jon Rahm proposes for the future of this sport, which is being decided these days in New York offices, where delegations from the PGA Tour and LIV are negotiating an agreement to end the schism in which they have been immersed since the appearance of the Saudi superleague in 2022.
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Jon Rahm, statements
In theory, that there is the freedom that we had before being able to play. Being a member of the European Tour and the PGA, I didn't have to ask for permission to play anything, if anything a formal letter.
You could do whatever you wanted as a player. It would be a bit like going back to that. There are people who don't understand what the LIV wants. Few or none would play in the PGA again, because it would be impossible to combine, but in January I would have time to play the AmEx or some other, tournaments that I would play because I like them and I'm good at them.
Or come here and continue playing without problems as a member of the European Tour. But I don't know how LIV would fit into other things," Jon designed his ideal agreement yesterday, although he admits that his influence is scarce.
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"If I knew I couldn't say much either, but I don't know. There have been meetings in New York in recent weeks, but we've heard very little. As a player I'll know very little until they announce it. I'm not a big deal. If going to LIV has made them think differently about the issue, I'm delighted, but my goal was not to be the savior of golf.
I don't know if I deserve that title or not. There are people who have done more and I'm not part of the negotiations. Within Spanish golf, being compared to Seve is a source of pride," he said. And he closed with an "optimistic" message, which adds to the many expressed these weeks by members of both sides when it seems that the conversations are approaching a highly anticipated outcome since June of last year when both structures announced an agreement in principle to operate more or less jointly: "Based on the rumours that there are, these weeks have been a big step forward.
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I want there to be a good atmosphere in golf. There is an opportunity to create something very special, for us and the spectators. More golf and better golf. It is a good thing.
