© Getty Images Sport – Ross Kinnaird / Stringer
On Thursday, December 7 at 06:03 a.m., private flight VJA314 took off from Scottsdale Airport (Arizona) bound for Teterboro, located in Bergen County (New Jersey), just 20 kilometers from Manhattan (New York). ). Inside the twin-engine Bombardier Challenger 300 was a traveler who would change the destinies of golf forever: Jon Rahm.
The Spanish athlete, born in Barrika 29 years ago, arrived at 6:08 p.m. to meet with the senior managers of the LIV, the new Saudi circuit that will debut in 2022, and close his millionaire agreement that will bring him close to 550 million euros.
. The officialization of the landing of the former number one, winner of two majors and flagship of Team Europe in the Ryder Cup, represented a real earthquake within the sport of sticks and was announced after midnight. The news shocked fans of the sport and the foundations of the sport were significantly affected.
Jon Rahm, situation
Rahm’s incorporation into LIV Golf has generated a large number of reactions in different areas and has raised an intriguing question: Does LIV Golf already have a higher competitive level than the PGA Tour? If we analyze the numbers in detail, it is more than reasonable to have this doubt.
With the arrival of the Spanish player, the members of the squad that is part of the circuit financed by the Public Investment Fund (the sovereign fund of Saudi Arabia) have ten Augusta Masters titles, five PGA Championship, five US Open and four British Open in their record.
In fact, they have won 15 of the last 31 of these tournaments played since 2016, which is practically equivalent to 50% of the victories. The history of the golf ranking includes a select group of 25 players who have held first place.
Of them, six are directly linked to LIV Golf: Jon Rahm, Greg Norman, Lee Westwood, Martin Kaymer, Dustin Johnson and Brooks Koepka. Meanwhile, in the PGA, figures such as Scottie Scheffler, Rory McIlroy, Justin Thomas, Jason Day, Jordan Spieth and Justin Rose, as well as Tiger Woods, who is still striving to return to the top level, would have the honor of occupying that position.
In that sense, the bleeding of talents that are moving from the PGA to the LIV is evident, a trend that will probably continue with the incorporation of important golfers such as Tyrrell Hatton or Tony Finau. Given this scenario, Jon Rahm himself, who seemed to have a firm position in the PGA, has reconsidered his future due to the lack of understanding with those responsible for the circuit regarding his requests.
However, the Spanish golfer has guaranteed his participation in the majors for several years and, for the moment, only the Ryder Cup with Europe could prevent his arrival at LIV Golf. However, his presence in this tournament could be assured thanks to a possible future agreement between the two circuits under the leadership of Luke Donald, another former number one in the ranking.
