It’s evident from the most recent revelation that golf are losing fans

Eighteen months after declaring he didn’t see the appeal of others in the rapidly expanding start-up league in the golf industry, Jon Rahm answered a Zoom call while sporting a LIV Golf jacket. He claimed that the $400 million wouldn’t alter his way of life during that press appearance in June 2022. He was revealed as LIV’s new poster boy on Thursday, reportedly paying $300 million.

Last June, Rahm said, “My heart belongs on the PGA Tour.”

“I’m forever grateful for the PGA Tour and the platform that they allow me to be on,” said Rahm on Thursday.

The state of professional golf is absurdly complicated. That was prior to the Rahm announcement. Right now? It’s definitely worse.

The PGA Tour lost major stars like Phil Mickelson, Dustin Johnson, Brooks Koepka, and Bryson DeChambau to LIV Golf even before Rahm left, and ever then, it has virtually waved the white flag and chosen to negotiate with LIV Golf rather than carry on with the conflict. It makes sense. Even with the non-profit’s high revenue, the Public Investment Fund will probably never run out of money, and the Tour cannot compete.

The FedEx Cup format is always changing, which has caused some confusion in the PGA Tour’s tournament structure. In an attempt to attract its best players more money and to play the same events more frequently, the Tour redesigned its tournament structure in response to LIV’s threat. First, it introduced Designated Events, which later evolved into Signature Events. The best gamers are looking for more. The average players believe they should be entitled to more. Some claim that the general public has benefited greatly.

“The state of men’s professional golf is depressing,” Mackenzie Hughes posted on Twitter early on Friday. “The current trajectory of the sport is neither beneficial nor healthy. And I understand that a lot of you are outraged over the recent events; I would be as well.

One of the most significant players on the Tour, Rory McIlroy, just departed the policy board. Tiger Woods joined the Tour in an attempt to salvage it, but he will now primarily have to watch from a swivel chair due to his restricted playing time. The Tour’s dated, ineffective Band-Aid rendition of Woods’ play is unable to salvage this.

In the meantime, LIV Golf is having trouble attracting viewers for its television show (which it hardly ever discloses), is pushing illogical transactions, and still has an excessive number of unidentified pros teeing it up next to a select group of players who serve as the league’s promotional posters.

Sure, Rahm attending LIV will increase its popularity, but to what extent? Rahm is regarded by 99% of golf enthusiasts as one of the best five players in the world

But how many people who don’t watch LIV will now try to find The CW channel? Although he is talented, the league isn’t necessarily much more entertaining to watch because of him. How to get people to care about anything without a clear past or legacy has always been LIV’s challenge.

That’s what the PGA Tour offers, and Rahm mentioned it in that historic June 2022 press conference.

With all I’ve accomplished, I could retire right now, lead a contented life, and never play golf again. I haven’t actually played golf for financial gain, though. He declared, “I want to play against the best players in the world because I play for the love of the game.” When you win the Memorial, it has significance. Winning Arnold Palmer’s event in Bay Hill has significance. Wins have significance in LA, Torrey, and some of the historic locations. That is really important to me.

Though it doesn’t necessarily improve the sport, these are mature men who are free to choose where they want to play, how often they want to play, and how much money they believe they should be paid for it.

“What is going on right now is terrible for the game of golf. Money has the power to transform everything. In response to the Rahm news on SiriusXM radio on Thursday. , former player turned analyst Colt Knost stated, “The divide in the professional game, it’s just not fun right now.”

It’s not nice to see what may be half of the world’s finest players playing in one location and the other half playing somewhere else. I never in a million years imagined that professional golf and the PGA Tour would experience this.

The best we have are the majors. Although it has always been the case, it is now considerably more so. Rahm will not be returning to defend his championship at Tiger’s event, the Genesis, or the American Express next month. With Rahm gone, the fields for two of those three Signature Events, which include the best players, have instantly gotten smaller. There are just four weeks a year when we get to witness the greatest golfers on the planet playing simultaneously. That is all.

Rahm was expected to be a key component of the PGA Tour’s solution—a star around whom to build—after the plans for the DP World Tour, Saudi PIF, and PGA Tour merger were revealed. However, his exit indicates that there is still little harmony between the Tour and LIV even with a framework deal. Perhaps this is LIV brass’s final feather in its cap—the removal of a two-time major champion that serves as a warning to those on the other side of the table about the power it still possesses. Alternatively, Rahm might be aware of something that we are not, such as the possibility that the two will collaborate in the near future. Perhaps he can still have the best of all worlds later on and collect a fat cheque now?

The tournaments you watch on weekends will be the ones that suffer for the time being. This division isn’t good for golf, but maybe Thursday was the turning point. Is it possible for things to go worse? Rahm’s defection might be followed by a few more, but they probably won’t be as notable. This serves as a wake-up call for unity in the sport.

A golf schedule for 2024 has already been decided upon, but the framework agreement has a deadline of December 31st. Perhaps a global tour of some kind is in the works. Or even a way for the top players from each league to participate in the major events of the other. It might turn out that Thursday was exactly what was required to take things seriously in the correct direction. That just won’t cut it. Fans of golf deserve better.