Golf Channel analyst Brandel Chamblee recently said he was ‘worried’ about Jon Rahm’s future on the PGA Tour, citing the Masters champion’s close relationship with Phil Mickelson and his seemingly ‘open mind’ on LIV.
He went on to say he hoped that Rahm’s “deep knowledge of the history of the game and his obvious future place in it will keep him from selling out.” While there have been no indications from either the Rahm or LIV camp that he is in any way interested in defecting, or that his ‘fealty,’ as he once put it, to the PGA Tour is in any way diminished, eagle-eyed web surfers spotted that Rahm’s name had been withdrawn from the TGL website’s list of players involved and that all posts relating to the Tiger Woods and Rory McIlroy spearheaded venture appear to have been scrubbed from Rahm’s social accounts.
The TGL side venture, which will reportedly see players hitting into simulators in an arena setting, had drawn many of the PGA Tour’s biggest stars and naturally, the double-major winning Rahm was among those sought out.
Yesterday, a social media post emerged depicting Collin Morikawa – another of those who’d long been confirmed – receiving a phone call asking him to join the L.A. owned team and compared it to receiving the phone call informing him that he’d been selected to play on this year’s US Ryder Cup team.
If it was intended as parody, then it’s one of the all-time great golfing stitch-ups, but Morikawa is not renowned as one of the game’s comedians so those who believe that it was either a genuine attempt to compare the two or at least to make it seem like he was may prove to be accurate.
🚨🏌🏻♂️📱Collin Morikawa’s was ecstatic as he received the call to join @WeAreLAGC from @alexisohanian: “I just got chills through my body, I don’t think I’ve ever answered a call like this, I got my Ryder Cup call this year, but I think this tops it almost.”
{🎥: @WeAreLAGC} pic.twitter.com/E0Yms5Vy4h
— NUCLR GOLF (@NUCLRGOLF) November 1, 2023
Whether Rahm’s decision to extricate himself from TGL – if that’s what he’s in fact done – is in any way related to Morikawa’s post might be a stretch, but if the world number three had chosen to make the switch to LIV, his participation in the Tuesday-night venture would likely be in jeopardy.
It remains to be seen, but Eddie Pepperell, speaking on The Chipping Forecast podcast last week suggested that Rahm had been asked to name his price by LIV at an earlier stage, but said a number that was above what the Saudi-backed league were willing to pay. As the ‘will they, won’t they?’ of the proposed merger continues to roll on in the background, Rahm defecting would be a clear indicator that any temporary ceasefire was off and that, once again, the PIF were prepared to dig deep in their pockets and make it a war of attrition.
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