A new twist has emerged after PGA Tour players reportedly placed demands on LIV Golf superstar Jon Rahm as merger talks with the Public Investment Fund continue.
Reports suggest PGA Tour stars want Rahm to give up his LIV earnings in order to return to golf’s traditional circuit.
No LIV players have played in a PGA Tour event since the league’s inception in 2022. After the latest round of merger talks, the PGA Tour is optimistic that progress has been made with the PIF.
Joel Beall – from Golf Digest – is the latest journalist to share insight. And Beall has revealed whether there’s any truth in the Rahm rumours.
Jon Rahm $300m LIV issue not holding up PGA-PIF talks
Taking to X on Tuesday evening, Beall revealed the hold-up isn’t centred around Rahm returning his breakaway league fortune.
“LIV players returning money—specifically Rahm—is not what’s holding up a potential PGA Tour-PIF deal, sources tell me,” Beall wrote.
“It’s how to integrate LIV players back and what LIV’s future looks like in a unified game (current LIV iteration likely done, but will be around in some form).”
Invitations the only way forward for LIV Golf and PGA Tour
Padraig Harrington believes invitations are the only way forward, and it’s hard to disagree with the Irishman.
Each LIV Golf and PGA Tour event should be given four invitations specifically for players on the opposing tours.
Therefore, LIV players would be able to play their country’s open events, something that Rahm and Sergio Garcia still hold dear.
Furthermore, LIV invitations would see some of the PGA Tour’s heavy hitters make fleeting appearances on the breakaway venture. Given the current standstill, it’s hard to envisage unification looking like anything else.
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