‘Never Say Never’ – Jon Rahm Refuses To Rule Out Investing His Own Money To Help Save LIV Golf
The Spaniard signed the most lucrative LIV Golf player deal and refused to rule out putting up some of his own money to help the breakaway league survive
Jon Rahm has left the door open to putting up his own money in a bid to ensure the survival of LIV Golf beyond this season.
With the funding from Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund set to come to an end at the conclusion of the 2026 campaign, LIV Golf CEO Scott O’Neil has been scrambling to find new investors.
The reported figure required is $300 million for what could become a 10-event schedule in 2027 if all goes well.
Rahm signed a huge deal reportedly north of $300m to join LIV at the end of 2023 in a move that shocked the world of men’s professional golf.
And now that the league is facing something of a crisis, it has been suggested some of the players might stump up their own cash to keep it going next year.
Asked at the Scottish Open if he would be willing to invest in it, Rahm said: “I know Scott [O’Neil] is doing a lot of work trying to find developers. And there's many ways around that, as far as putting my money into it, they have not asked me to do that yet.
“So I don't know if they will or not. It's not something that they have asked me but there has been many different avenues to try to make it different, what we've had till now. They haven't asked me to put my money in yet.”
Pushed on whether he would if he was to be asked, Rahm added: “Something I've learned in life, never say never. I'm not going to say absolutely no to anything that can happen in the future.”
Rahm has won four LIV Golf titles
The Spaniard also confirmed which other DP World Tour events he was committed to playing this season to meet the membership criteria of the circuit.
“I'm here, Ireland [for the Irish Open] and Wentworth [for the BMW PGA Championship],” he continued. “I want to play the Dunhill [Links Championship] and Spanish Open but that doesn't seem likely because of our due date being in October. Being our fourth, I don't think I would have time to fly back and be on time.
“So most likely miss those two. I hope in Spain - I've already talked to them and asked if I can arrive Thursday morning, I'll tee off in the afternoon, so maybe we wait till the last moment. But then otherwise, I'll have to play most likely Abu Dhabi and Dubai. Those would be the events I have in mind.
“If for whatever reason there's a change in the due date and I can play the other events, I will, but those are the five events I would like to play, including this one.”
‘Spain deserves a bigger event’
Rahm was also asked about the recently announced changes that are coming to the PGA Tour and, specifically, the new-look post-season schedule that is in the pipeline.
While yet to be fully confirmed, it could open up the possibility of more players opting to enter some DP World Tour events in the latter part of the year, something Rahm hopes could lead to an elevation of the Spanish Open.
Rahm has won the Spanish Open three times
“One of my complaints back in the day that was changed was that I didn't like when you finished the FedEx Cup that immediately seven days later they are starting a new FedEx Cup,” Rahm said.
“And when we show up to the Tournament of Champions, if you didn't play in the fall, you were a thousand points behind somebody. I don't feel like it's fair for the points race to start in January.
“And with that said, I always played DP World Tour that time of year because it was hard for me to play elsewhere earlier on because I always like those West Coast events. September through December was always my DP World Tour time.
“The Spanish Open, I would hope for it to become a bigger event. When I was growing up, Spain had five to eight DP World Tour events. They were all quite big.
"The Spanish Open had a bit of a bigger weight to it, and I think we have enough of a footprint in the history of the DP World Tour with Seve [Ballesteros] and Sergio [Garcia] and all that many others have done that I think Spain deserves to have a bigger event. So if that opens the opportunity for that to happen, yeah.
“And I think it shouldn't be the hardest sell. If you can get the right sponsor, the right course and the right prize money, it's not that hard to go to Spain.
"You get good weather, good food, good night life for whoever is interested, good drinking, it produces itself in that regard.”
