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Jon Rahm: “They just Make something Up”

During the LIV event at Greenbrier, Jon Rahm gave a short and clear answer to the rumors that he wants to return to the PGA Tour.

Jon Rahm (Image: Getty)
Jon Rahm (Image: Getty)

Just under a week ago, US golf journalist Jaime Diaz fueled the rumor mill surrounding Jon Rahm. In a lengthy Golf Digest article, Diaz cited an alleged statement from an unnamed “veteran tour insider” who said of Rahm: “I am 100 percent positive that if Jon could give the money back to the Saudis and come back to the tour, he couldn’t write the check fast enough. Now there are only four times a year when he’s playing that anybody is remotely interested. He thought his stature in the game was secure no matter where he was playing, and it was a bad miscalculation”. During a rain delay at the LIV event at Greenbrier last weekend, Rahm was confronted with the statement and asked for a reaction, according to the X account “Pro Golf Critic”. A video recording of Rahm’s reaction does not exist, so it is not 100 percent verifiable whether he really reacted as follows.

Jon Rahm: “Couldn’t be further from the truth”

The Spaniard responded: “Yeah that’s why I can’t stop smiling out here. They just make something up.[The claim of the insider] Couldn’t be further from the truth”. The two-time major champion’s answer – if it was really given – can now be believed or not. To realize that the alleged claim of the “veteran tour insider” may not be completely out of thin air, you only need to recall a few of Jon Rahm’s statements during 2024.

Here are three statements made by the 29-year-old during the season: “Not being there was difficult. It’s a decision I made, and I’m comfortable with it. […] But I hope I can come back”. That is a statement made by Rahm at the beginning of 2024, when talking about the three PGA Tour tournaments he was not allowed to defend due to his defection to LIV. With regard to a change in the LIV format from 54- to 72-hole tournaments, he made the following comments in April: “The closer we can get LIV to do some of these things, the better”. In the run-up to the 2024 PGA Championship, the former Masters champion caused a stir when he said the following: “I’m still a PGA Tour member, whether suspended or not & I still want to support the PGA Tour”.