In December, Ryder Cup colleague Shane Lowry pleaded with Jon Rahm to not dash hopes of peace by turning down the PGA Tour in favor of a lucrative contract with LIV Golf.
After Jon Rahm and other LIV Golf defectors successfully completed a lucrative switch to the contentious series, Shane Lowry advised them not to disparage the PGA Tour.
Following reigning Masters champion Rahm’s December departure to the Saudi-backed breakaway league, Tyrrell Hatton was the most high-profile PGA Tour player to leave the league last month. LIV Golf, supported by the Saudi Arabian Public Investment Fund, signed Rahm to a contract worth up to £450 million, and Hatton obliged with a £50 million move of his own.
Lowry described what it’s like to learn that a friend and Ryder Cup teammate has moved to the rival tour during an interview with the Fore Play Podcast. The 36-year-old stated that as long as things “go gracefully,” he is fine with it.
According to Lowry on the Fore Play Podcast, “rumors are big at the time and we were all talking about it individually until Jon put a message in the group chat telling us.” “Yes, some guys just say, ‘Whatever.'” “Whatever, that’s your choice,” I said. Simply put, avoid going there and acting rudely toward the tours, as some people did. Proceed there with grace and fulfill your obligations.
“Tyrrell felt the same way. It’s a little strange that you can’t play a tournament with Jon or Tyrrell until the Masters, so I was sad to see them go. It’s an odd time in golf history, so as long as men depart with grace and refrain from telling everyone how awful the PGA and European Tours are—because they aren’t—you get the idea.
“They’re still fantastic tours, and we play professional golf really well. Although I wish they would stay, you know, things happen as they do.
“You don’t like the message obviously, but you just say yeah, whatever,” Lowry responded when asked if he had downvoted Rahm’s message announcing his departure for LIV Golf.
In response to Rahm’s action, longtime opponent of LIV Rory McIlroy changed his mind about circuit players competing in the Ryder Cup and suggested that the DP World Tour revise the eligibility requirements. Prior to the biennial competition against the United States, which will next take place at Bethpage Black in New York in 2025, McIlroy had stated that LIV players shouldn’t represent Europe. However, he and Lowry have since acknowledged that they both wanted Rahm to play.
The shocking news in June that LIV Golf was going to combine spectacularly with the PGA Tour set Rahm’s shock switch in motion. The golf world was rocked when the PGA and DP World Tours announced they had reached a “framework agreement” to merge with PIF. However, the talks have not yet reached a final agreement because of interference from the US government.
In the meantime, the PGA Tour approved a £2.4 billion investment agreement with Strategic Sports Group in a new commercial fund earlier this month. SSG pledged to provide an immediate £1.2 billion cash infusion, with the possibility for that investment to grow over time.
The massive agreement with SSG will allow nearly 200 members of the PGA Tour to own stock in PGA Tour Enterprises as a thank you for remaining devoted and forgoing LIV Golf.
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