LIV Golf News: Jon Rahm Joins LIV Golf for 2024 Season

Written by: Tony Schwartz

Last Updated: December 13, 2023

UPDATE (DECEMBER 12, 2023)

Since this story on Planet Divot was published on December 10, 2023, Jon Rahm has been suspended from the PGA Tour as a result of his commitment to "unauthorized tournaments" with LIV Golf. He forgoes eligibility for the Fedex Cup points list which is the basis for one of the PGA Tour's biggest sources of earnings for Tour pros.

PGA Tour Commissioner Jay Monahan told players in a memo "...last year we communicated our commitment to ensure that suspended members do not negatively impact other players' tournament eligibility, position on the Priority Rankings or eligibility to compete in the Players and Signature Events.

"Consequently the Policy Board established a new ranking - called the 'FedEx Cup Playoffs & Eligibility Points List' - that removes players who are under suspension for their participation in an unauthorised tournament or their association with a series of unauthorised tournaments from the FedEx Cup Points List.

"In accordance with the PGA Tour Tournament Regulations, Jon Rahm has been notified that he is suspended and no longer eligible to participate in PGA Tour tournament play due to his association with a series of unauthorized tournaments."

According to reporting we sourced from Sky Sports, the effects of this suspension are mostly benefiting Mackenzie Hughes and Carl Yuan - two players with more opportunity in-hand as a result of Jon Rahm's suspension. Mackenzie Hughes is now able to compete in the PGA Tour's Signature Events as a Top 50 player which offers him an expanded opportunity to earn in the 2024 season. Carl Yuan, now ranked 125th, is given a PGA Tour card for the full season and able to compete. Carl was signed up to attend Q school.

Jon Rahm Joins LIV Golf, Gets Suspended

It's official - Jon Rahm has announced that he will join LIV Golf in 2024, which is completely shaking the world of professional golf. This recent news is coming from one of the best golfers in the world, officially ranked in the top 3, who has been fairly vocal about his commitment to the PGA Tour, and shown steady opposition to the format supported by LIV Golf.

ESPN reported that the deal terms are worth over $300M and also includes partial ownership of the LIV team captained by Rahm where he will also earn based on the performance and revenue generation of the team. In the world of professional sports deals, those with royalty arrangements and kickbacks like this tend to be the most valuable to players over the longer term.

"This decision was for many reasons what I thought was best for me," Rahm said. "Don't get me wrong, it's a great deal. I had a really good offer in front of me, and it's one of the reasons why I took it, right? They really put me in a position where I had to think about it and I did."

The deal terms clearly played a major part in Jon Rahm's decision to join LIV Golf because, well for one, he tells us that. For two, Rahm has been very vocal about LIV's appeal, or lack thereof, for him. But once a "great deal" entered the conversation, Rahm "had to think about it," he said.

Of course he had to think about it because $300M is life-changing money that creates generational wealth for his family. Although the question remains for any who choose to join LIV Golf, which is "Are you comfortable receiving this money knowing that it's funded by a government and country responsible for heinous acts against humanity?"

Anyone can armchair quarterback this situation, take the moral high ground, and easily say that no amount of money could overcome the ever-present objection to LIV Golf which is its record against humanity. The decision becomes enormously more complicated for anyone who has deal terms on paper sitting in front of them with financial guarantees that pay for your great great great grandchildren's education and livelihoods. It's easy for any of us to say that money won't impact our decisions if we're driven by a sound moral compass, and to be clear, we are not saying that Jon Rahm's moral compass is pointing south because of this decision. We are holding space for the complexity of the decision. And money, especially generational wealth, really takes the trajectory of these conversations from esoteric into the practical very quickly. We empathize with Jon Rahm's decision and fully understand the practical reasons for making this decision. Although, it is still a hard pill to swallow when we've heard different narratives from Jon Rahm for several weeks and months. On the other hand, we're all entitled to changing our minds, right?!

What Does Jon Rahm's Decision to Join LIV Mean for Professional Golf?

This appears to be a very intentional and calculated choice which allows Jon Rahm to play in the biggest tournaments of the world, build his legacy as a player, and earn the highest wages possible. I remember watching Full Swing on Netflix when DJ asks with remarkable relatability, "If your boss asked you to work less hours and for more money, would you do it?"

For me, this helped orient my thoughts and opinions about these golfers' decisions to do what's best for them and their families. Altruistically, we want golfers to compete for glory. Point blank. Compete for the highest acknowledgements in the world of professional golf, hoist the most notable trophies, and chase down every major championship with rigor and resolve. Guess what, Jon Rahm is able to do that with his decision to join LIV.

For professional golf and the future of the PGA Tour as PGA Tour Enterprises, Jon Rahm's decision is a very direct reminder that players are empowered more than ever with options to choose where to take their talents. And money talks - LOUDLY - in these decisions. The PGA Tour is scrambling to hold onto title sponsors, retain its best players, and fund it all competitively. So this is yet another reminder to the PGA Tour that it needs to evolve or die. Frankly, we are rooting for the PGA Tour's continuity and prevalence in the world of professional golf because of the legacy it has established as one of the most storied organizations in professional sports. But that legacy will not protect it from the ever-present need to evolve and change with dynamics that are shifting around it.

How Does This Impact Jon Rahm's Eligibility for Majors & The Ryder Cup

Jon Rahm's eligibility for golf's major tournaments remains unaffected due to his performance while playing on the PGA Tour. Jon Rahm won the 2023 Masters tournament in April which effectively means that he's now doubled down on a lifetime exemption for the Masters tournament. Perhaps more importantly though, he is eligible to compete in all four majors through the 2027 season.

Jon Rahm is going to continue competing in golf's most important and internationally recognized tournaments, which is something he has represented in comments reported by ESPN.com's Senior Writer Mark Schlabach. In some ways, this plays exactly into the things Jon Rahm has expressed are most important to him such as "I'm in this to win tournaments and play against the best in the world." He will, in fact, be able to compete against the best players in the world and in the most important tournaments in the world. Well, with one exception that Jon Rahm is welcoming.

Jon Rahm has a supreme legacy at the Ryder Cup, and the 2023 Ryder Cup results will show his continued legacy in this year's route of Team USA. In the spirit of wanting to play against the best players in the world and in the most important tournaments recognized by the international community, we would expect the Ryder Cup to be of the utmost importance. Rahm has vocalized dissenting opinions about not allowing players like Sergio Garcia to be involved in the Ryder Cup due to forfeiture of DP World Tour membership. Those same restrictions of the European Tour imposed on players choosing to play for LIV will be placed on Jon Rahm now that he is signed with LIV golf. 

Recently, Rory McIlroy expressed to Sky Sports that the DP World Tour will need to rewrite eligibility requirements for players who choose to sign with LIV because "Jon is going to be in Bethpage in 2025 so, because of this decision, the European Tour (DP World Tour) are going to have to rewrite the rules for the Ryder Cup eligibility,’’ McIlroy told Sky. “There’s absolutely no question about that – I certainly want Jon Rahm on the next Ryder Cup team."

What we appreciate reading about Rory's reaction to the news is that he seems to be overcoming his own personal objections to LIV and developing empathy and understanding for players who are choosing what is best for them. Simultaneously, we acknowledge and commend Rory for his resolve for representing the PGA Tour, rallying behind a legacy that holds utmost importance to him, and one that he wants to be a steward of now. Rory's malleability is happening before our eyes and ears in the world of golf news, and in some ways, that really illustrates a larger shift in consciousness around the sport of golf, how it will exist as PGA Tour Enterprises, and how all of us will be evolving our relationship to golf as this process plays out. So in a lot of ways, what we're witnessing with Rory in real time is a snapshot of what may also be occurring in a broader sense with the global professional golf landscape.