Patrick Reed stunned the golfing world on Wednesday when he announced that he had left LIV Golf and would be returning to the PGA Tour.
After Brooks Koepka left LIV Golf in December, and with Reed now having done the same, the Saudi-backed outfit seem to be a Jon Rahm or Bryson DeChambeau exit away from folding completely.
PGA Tour fans loved having Koepka back in action at the Farmers Insurance Open on Thursday.
Is Patrick Reed leaving the end of LIV Golf?
First Brooks, now Reed…who will be next?
Meanwhile, Reed will have to wait until August before he can play on the PGA Tour again.
Rahm and DeChambeau have the chance to return to the PGA Tour if they so choose, but the deadline for that offer will expire on February 2nd.
The 2023 Masters champion joined LIV at the end of 2023.
His move from the PGA Tour was expected to be the one that toppled the PGA Tour’s house of cards.
However, the complete opposite has proven to be true.
Patrick Reed’s LIV decision will affect Jon Rahm more than Bryson DeChambeau
It’s fair to say that the PGA Tour hold the upper hand over LIV right now.
They have a product that golf fans resonate with, while the same cannot be said of the Saudi-funded league.
And now Rahm may well be seriously regretting his decision to change allegiances back in 2023.
He’s very much in danger of being the last big name to be left on LIV Golf, if DeChambeau moves on at the end of this year and other players like Joaquin Niemann follow the path laid out by Koepka and Reed.
While DeChambeau’s current deal with LIV will expire at the end of the 2026 season, Rahm’s contract runs well beyond that.
The really worrying thing for Rahm is that the PGA Tour opening the door for LIV golfers to return means that the level of competition he faces could seriously be set to dwindle.
With Koepka and Reed having left in order to make returns to the PGA Tour, more LIV golfers will surely be tempted to make the same move.
Jon Rahm needs to make PGA Tour decision now
Unless Rahm’s LIV contract prohibits him from doing so, the Spaniard should rejoin the PGA Tour before Monday’s deadline.
How do you think Brooks Koepka will get on at Torrey Pines this week?
Predict where Brooks will finish in his first start back on the PGA Tour…
Otherwise he could face being stuck with the Saudi-backed golf league during his real prime years.
Rahm is one of the most talented golfers on the planet and there is a real sense that he is wasting his career over at LIV.
The 31-year-old’s decision to join LIV in the first place is one that still baffles golf fans to this day.
It was a bizarre move from one of the best players in the world.
We all know it was the mega money deal he was offered which made his mind up.
However, Rahm’s legacy will be seriously tainted unless he rejoins the PGA Tour very soon.
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