I WON’T ALLOW HIM COME BACK TO PGA: Tiger Woods release official statement on Jon Rahm’s PGA Tour return, gives reasons below

LIV Golf broke the bank to secure Jon Rahm’s signature last year, with the Spaniard joining dozens of elite-level stars by defecting to the Saudi Arabia-backed breakaway tour

Back in December, Jon Rahm became the latest high profile capture for LIV Golf in what was an absolutely sickening blow to the PGA Tour.

The move came as something of a surprise given the Spaniard’s past comments about the breakaway tour. While he had previously praised the PGA’s history and defended its traditions, he then mocked LIV Golf’s 54-hole format and said he wouldn’t be tempted by the big-money contracts being offered to defectors by a rival company backed by Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund (PIF).

But in a surprising turn of events, the 29-year-old signed a full contract, reportedly becoming the highest-paid player in golf’s history. The deal was announced several months after news of a possible tie-up between the PGA and LIV.

But the scope of the partnership has yet to be agreed upon, and while LIV players have been given permission to compete in any of the PGA’s four major events, full cooperation between the two tours is still a ways off. Here, the Mirror looks at Lam’s situation and what the future holds for the former world number one.

Lam’s record deal with LIV Golf
Lam’s resignation last year attracted a lot of attention, not just because of past comments he made about LIV, but also because money was involved. According to reports, the 2023 champion signed a 500 million dollars (386 million pounds)-a large contract in the history of LIV Golf.

He surpassed the deal of 160 million pounds, in which Phil Mikelson was transferred in 2022, which previously recorded. Rahm’s contract runs until 2028 and reportedly includes shares in the Saudi-backed tour, use of one of the Saudi Royal Family’s private jets, and a team of 10 personal assistants who provide round-the-clock care for him and his family.

Previously, Rahm was one of the few high profile golfers, along with the likes of Tiger Woods and Rory McIlroy, to pledge his future to the PGA Tour following the emergence of LIV Golf. After his escape, the Spaniard tried to get in touch with his former tour teammate, and although McIlroy supported him, Woods appeared to sideline Rahm.

“So, Tiger, I wrote to him and the people who were trying to contact him about the process when I signed and just told him, ‘Look, it’s a personal decision.’ I have nothing against anybody’,” Rahm told ESPN in February.

After hinting that Woods hadn’t answered his texts, Rahm said: “Rory has been supportive publicly of my decision, and he was privately as well.” He also refused to shy away from accusations that his decision to quit the PGA was motivated by money. “This is a new change. Great change. The thing about this is that it will dramatically change how golfers get paid. I’d be lying if I said it didn’t play a key role. In short, I can no longer do the same sport and have more time. I don’t know about most people, but that sounds great to me,” he said. Rahm gets off to a rocky start at LIV Golf Despite being the highest-paid player in the history of golf, Rahm doesn’t play like it. At the start of the year, it looked like he would start racking up titles, but the two-time major champion has yet to record a single victory on the circuit. Speaking ahead of the season’s 10th tournament in his native Andalusia, Spain, Rahm insisted the 54-hole format – what he once called “bad” golf – had no impact on its shape, but he called on the powers that be to consider moving to 72 holes. He also rated himself a “six out of 10” on his campaign so far and stressed the need to find some consistency: “There have been weeks where I felt like I’ve gotten more out of it than I feel like I have,” he told reporters. “And there have been a few weeks where things could have been better.

“I haven’t won yet, so I’m going to drop significantly (in the season rankings). If they tell me, they will probably say six out of ten. But the year is not over yet. I still have a lot of room to play for.”

He may be PGA Enemy No. 1, but that hasn’t stopped Rahm from envisioning a future on the tour. Speaking before the Masters in April, he acknowledged that he “still loves” the PGA Tour, adding that he “hopes to get back out there.”

“At the end of the day, I did what I thought was best for me and my family,” he said in an interview.