In December 2023, Jon Rahm stunned professional golf by leaving the PGA Tour for LIV Golf. He was the reigning Masters champion and the world’s No. 3-ranked player at the time.
The move was widely seen as a major blow to the PGA Tour. Rahm joined a growing list of top players that included Bryson DeChambeau, Brooks Koepka, Dustin Johnson, Phil Mickelson, and Sergio Garcia at the Saudi-backed circuit.
Why Rahm made the switch
Jon Rahm never hid the financial side of the deal. He called it a significant offer and said that as a father and a husband, he owed it to his family to secure their future. Jon also pointed to LIV’s growth and innovation as key factors driving his choice. He believed the league was moving in a positive direction and pushed its leaders to keep making changes for the betterment of golf.
Jon also credited the PGA Tour’s own actions for nudging him toward the exit. The Tour’s pursuit of the Saudi framework agreement legitimized LIV in his eyes and lowered the threshold for making the switch. Rahm said the game had changed, and so had he. That shift gave him the clarity he needed to sign.
What he said at the 2026 PGA Championship
At the 2026 PGA Championship at Aronimink Golf Club in Newtown Square, Pennsylvania, reporters pressed Rahm on whether he regrets the move. He pushed back clearly and without hesitation.
Jon said he has never approached life by looking back at decisions and wishing he had done things differently. He compared dwelling on past choices to replaying bad golf shots, saying that kind of thinking would make him a very pessimistic person.
His philosophy on regret
Rahm explained his broader life view when asked about the decision. He said that when a choice is made thoughtfully and for the right reasons, there is simply no sense in dwelling on it afterward.
He added that when circumstances change after a decision has been made, that change is an afterthought and not a reflection of a bad choice. His mindset reflects a forward-thinking approach that he applies both on and off the golf course.
Fun fact: Rahm was born with a clubfoot on his right foot. Doctors broke every bone in his ankle within 20 minutes of his birth to correct it. His right leg is also a centimeter and a half shorter as a result
Rahm denies being a reunification catalyst
One popular narrative was that Rahm’s blockbuster signing was meant to pressure the PGA Tour and LIV into merging. Rahm shut that theory down completely at his press conference.
He said he never thought that he would be any sort of weight that would tip the scales toward reunification. He stated plainly that the idea of bringing the tours together was never an argument in his mind when he made the call.
LIV Golf’s uncertain future
Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund is pulling its financial backing from LIV Golf at the end of the 2026 season. That decision cast a long shadow over Rahm’s comments and put the entire league on shaky ground.
Rahm confirmed he is locked into a multi-year deal and sees very few ways out of it. He acknowledged the situation is challenging, but said fixing a business is not among his talents and that his job is simply to play golf.
Little-known fact: Rahm’s last name is not Spanish at all. It traces back to a Swiss ancestor who relocated to Spain in the 1780s.
His major championship record since joining LIV
Rahm’s major championship results since leaving the PGA Tour have been mixed rather than disastrous. Since joining LIV Golf, he has played in nine majors, missed one cut, withdrawn from one, and recorded four top-10 finishes, including a runner-up finish at the 2026 PGA Championship.
He missed the cut at the 2024 PGA Championship at Valhalla and withdrew from the 2024 U.S. Open because of a foot injury. His other post-LIV major results include T45 at the 2024 Masters, T7 at the 2024 Open Championship, T14 at the 2025 Masters, T8 at the 2025 PGA Championship, T7 at the 2025 U.S. Open, T34 at the 2025 Open Championship, T38 at the 2026 Masters, and T2 at the 2026 PGA Championship.
While those results have not fully matched the dominant standard Rahm set before his move, his recent PGA Championship runner-up finish shows he remains a serious major contender.
Fun fact: Rahm became the first European player to win both the Masters and the US Open. He seemed genuinely surprised when told about this historic achievement at his Master’s winner’s press conference.
The Ryder Cup question
One of the biggest concerns around Rahm’s LIV move was the potential loss of Ryder Cup eligibility. The event is something Rahm has described as deeply important to him throughout his career. He recently reached an agreement with the DP World Tour that allows him to remain eligible to represent Europe at the Ryder Cup.
That development took on greater importance given the ongoing uncertainty about LIV’s future beyond 2026. For Rahm, keeping that Ryder Cup door open is not just about competition. It is about identity, pride, and the part of golf that no paycheck can replace.
What this means for golf’s bigger picture
Rahm remains one of the sport’s most compelling figures regardless of which tour he plays on. His intelligence, competitive fire, and honesty in press conferences keep him at the center of golf’s biggest conversations.
His situation is a mirror for everything that has gone wrong and right with the LIV experiment. Whether he returns to the PGA Tour or watches LIV find a new footing, the outcome will shape professional golf for years to come.
TL;DR
- Jon Rahm left the PGA Tour for LIV Golf in December 2023 for a reported nine-figure deal.
- He has publicly stated he does not regret the decision and does not dwell on past choices.
- He shut down claims that his move was intended to push the two tours toward reunification.
- His major championship results since joining LIV have fallen well short of his pre-2024 standard.
- Saudi Arabia’s PIF is pulling LIV funding after 2026, leaving Rahm under a contract he says has few obvious exits.
- He recently secured a DP World Tour agreement that keeps his Ryder Cup eligibility alive.
- Rahm says his focus is on playing great golf and not on things outside his control.
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This article was made with AI assistance and human editing.
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