Six days after Jon Rahm announced at a New York City press conference that he was signing with LIV Golf, the Spanish superstar was back in his homeland earlier this week to accept an award from a prestigious sports and social club on Spain’s northern coast.
At least a couple of things were clear from Rahm’s visit to La Sociedad Bilbaina, in the Basque city of Bilbao, about a 20-minute drive south of Rahm’s hometown: He was humbled to receive the club’s Dama Bilbaina prize for outstanding sporting achievement but also taken aback by the number of media in attendance; as Rahm spoke in his native tongue to the assembled crowd, two microphones perched on a podium in front of him, he said that he had been expecting a more “intimate” affair.
However, a Reuters report claims that Rahm said more, and this is where the details get murky. Rahm also talked about his intentions to keep quiet for the next few months during the ceremony, according to an unattributed story published by the news organization on Wednesday.
Rahm told Reuters, “I have put a little bit of pressure on myself to not do public events because of the changes I have made to the golf world in the last week. I am under very strict instructions not to do public events.”
Regarding media appearances, Rahm allegedly stated, “There won’t be anything until February.” I’m not permitted to.
The remarks that were reported caused some people to take notice because it was unclear exactly who was preventing Rahm from appearing in public or speaking with the media. Just him? People on his team? LIV Golf, his new employer? If Rahm made the decision to hibernate alone, why does he claim he’s “not allowed to” and that he’s “under strict instructions”? Rahm’s remarks may have lost crucial context during the translation from Spanish to English, which is one plausible explanation.
There are other gray areas, though. A draft of a contract that was made available to potential LIV players was examined by the Wall Street Journal in 2022. It contained clauses requiring players to get permission before wearing brand logos at LIV tournaments and requiring them to help with LIV recruitment efforts. The contract additionally mentioned that players should not conduct interviews without permission from LIV, according to the Journal’s report.
Which brings us back to Rahm’s curious remarks. Had LIV muzzled him?
A representative for LIV informed GOLF.com on Thursday that Rahm’s remarks had been “misinterpreted via the translation.” Rahm “is simply taking the rest of the month of December off from media (self-imposed, as he did state),” the spokesperson continued, in order to spend time with his family in Spain over the holidays. Not a thing more.
The spokesperson, who oversees LIV’s media requests, responded to a question about whether the league controls player access to the media by saying that it doesn’t and that, even in the unlikely event that a player’s contract contains such a clause, it has never been put into practice.
“I receive no emails from players requesting permission to do press,” the spokesperson stated. “They act in their own way.”
Rahm is probably going to make his public comeback in Mexico if he does decide to hold off until February. The El Camaleon course in Mayakoba will host the first LIV event of 2024 from February 2–4.
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