BREAKING: Jon Rahm announces retirement from LIV Golf because of a mer treat from golf star

The 29-year-old Masters champion’s big money move to Saudi-backed LIV Golf has sent fresh shockwaves through the sport.

Masters champion Jon Rahm has splashed out on Saudi-funded LIV Golf for a sum reportedly greater than the entire PGA Tour prize fund, a blow that deepens the divide between golf as the two sides were negotiating a trade agreement.

Rahm confirmed the decision Thursday in an interview with Fox News. Wearing a black jacket with the LIV logo, he said it wasn’t an easy decision.

“I’m very happy,” Lam said. “But there’s a lot of things that are very attractive about LIV Golf.”

He said he wouldn’t disclose the value of his contract, despite reports that his compensation is worth $500 million, which would likely also include equity in the new team. The PGA Tour’s total budget for 2023 was about $460 million. The development comes 25 days before the PGA Tour deadline, with Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund seeking to sign a deal on June 6 to become a commercial partner in a parallel commercial venture with the European Tour.

Negotiations have been progressing slowly, with Tiger Woods saying last week that a lot of progress had been made. Even more intriguing was that 29-year-old Rahm, ranked third in the world and on the cusp of a two-time major champion, was the one to get away with it in the end.

Rahm insisted he had enough money and only cared about history and legacy. He said recently that “it makes me laugh” whenever he sees his name associated with LIV. “It was an attractive offer. The money is great and of course it’s fantastic,” Rahm said. “But what I said before is true: I don’t play golf for the money. I play golf for the love of golf and the love of golf. But as a husband and a father, I have an obligation to give my family the best opportunities and as many resources as possible, and that’s what’s important.

The Spaniard will make his LIV debut in the league’s opening tournament at LIV Golf Mayakoba in Mexico from February 2-4.

He has five years of eligibility remaining to play in major tournaments through 2031, including the Lifetime Masters and the U.S. Open. It should still be determined how this step affects its right to Ryder’s Cup.

“It’s hard to sit here and criticize John from what a great player he is,” Rory Makilra said in an interview with Sky Sports. “John will come to Bethpage (for the Ryder Cup) in 2025. This decision means the European Tour will have to rewrite the rules. There’s no doubt about that.”

With the addition of Rahm, LIV Golf has now produced seven of the last 14 major winners.

PGA Tour Commissioner Jay Monahan was scheduled to meet with PIF Chairman Yasser Al-Rumayyan this week. The meeting was postponed until next week, but it is unclear whether it is still on or whether Rahm’s announcement affects the negotiations.

Since this stunning business partnership was proposed on June 6, the tour has also received offers from private equity groups. They include Fenway Sports Group and Acorn Growth, which includes former AT&T Chairman Randall Stevenson. He resigned from the PGA Tour board over his opposition to the Saudi Arabia deal. The pact originally included provisions to prevent poaching of players, but those provisions were removed after the Department of Justice faced antitrust concerns.

The LIV deal goes against everything Rahm has said about the league. He announced his support for the PGA tour in February 2022, and recently, a Spanish podcast in August, “I laugh when I heard my story at LIV GOLF. I don’t like this format. was. “”

He said that the 54 holes and hunting rifles without cutting were “not a golf tournament.” “I want to play against the world’s best people in hundreds of years,” he said last year. “That’s what I want to see.”

He sang another melody in an interview with Fox, saying that money was a factor, but there were other elements that “made him very exciting.” “Once you get past that, the love of the game, wanting to grow it into a global market and being part of a team, being captain and hopefully being a leader to your teammates, it’s something so special,” Rahm said.