The ‘awesome’ LIV tour golfer who Max Homa said is ‘one of the best’ he’s ever seen after playing with him at PGA Tour event

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Several LIV Golf players could soon be granted access back into PGA Tour events nearly three years after the league’s emergence.

Donald Trump’s meeting with Jay Monahan and Adam Scott has clearly proven fruitful, and reports suggest Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund and the PGA Tour are nearing a finalised merger agreement.

Golf Channel’s Rex Hoggard even claimed LIV Golf players could return at the 2025 Players Championship, although such an eventuality feels unlikely with LIV’s Singapore event falling on the same weekend.

If a merger agreement is announced, the likes of Jon Rahm, Tyrrell Hatton and Bryson DeChambeau could return and compete on golf’s traditional circuit.

Rahm and Hatton were LIV’s headline arrivals in 2024. The Englishman, after playing two PGA Tour events in January, signed a reported $65m contract with the PIF-backed league.

As for Rahm, the Spaniard completed his 2023 PGA Tour commitments before signing for LIV in December of the same year.

What Max Homa said about Jon Rahm at the 2023 Genesis Invitational

Rahm had actually been pretty active during the 2023 PGA Tour season and won his second major at Augusta National. Before The Masters, the Spaniard had already won three times, including the Genesis Invitational at Riviera Country Club.

Max Homa, who was playing alongside Rahm in the final round, was blown away by what he saw from the soon-to-be Masters champ.

“I’m enamoured by Jon’s golf game; he’s just tremendous. I just remember telling myself Sunday, he had a lead, I didn’t play well Saturday, kept myself in the final group, but I didn’t play well, and he played awesome, like really awesome,” Homa said when asked about Rahm’s win.

“I just remember my whole goal Sunday driving in was I’m going to make him feel my presence today, and he’s going to have to beat me, and if he does, I’m going to get to watch some pretty darn good golf. And that’s what he did; he played really well.

“He hit so many great shots and things you would remember. He made a long putt on 14, he almost made a hole-in-one on 16, and he did a bunch of amazing stuff, but that’s the stuff you would expect. I just remember, like, I don’t know, just the joy of getting to push somebody who I find to be one of the best golfers I’ll ever see and feel like, you know, for a minute there, I got him pretty nervous, and it felt good.”

The American added: “I would like obviously to have won, and I would like to win more going forward, but I do need to take a positive in that he had a three-shot lead there, and for a minute there, I had him. It’s just cool to be able to keep that in your back pocket, take it, learn, and hopefully become a better player than him at some point. But as of last year he was going to be the No. 1 player in the world, it was fun to really battle with somebody who’s the best player in the world.”

• READ MORE: Five dream LIV Golf players the PGA Tour could bring back for the Players Championship at TPC Sawgrass

How Jon Rahm won the 2023 Genesis Invitational

Rahm kicked off the 2023 Genesis Invitational with a 65 (six under) before shooting three under on day two. The Spaniard then fired another 65 on Saturday to give himself a chance of winning heading into Sunday’s final round.

Rahm, who was in control of the tournament, shot 69, which included two clutch birdies on 14 and 16, to seal a two-shot victory over Homa.

Homa’s first-round 64 was one of the low scores of the week; sadly, the six-time Tour winner couldn’t find his top form down the stretch.

As for Rahm, the Spaniard would go on to finish runner-up at The Open Championship and T18 in his final PGA Tour event: The Tour Championship at East Lake.

Few would’ve known Rahm’s bogey on East Lake’s 18th would be the last hole he would play on the PGA Tour.