Amid rumors of leaving LIV, Jon Rahm says he misses PGA Tour: “If they let me play, I'll play for sure”
Jon Rahm was asked ahead of the Andalucia Masters about whether or not he misses the PGA Tour. There have been rumors about him wanting to leave LIV Golf lately, though those have arguably been present since he initially defected. As of now, he's still with the rebel tour.
However, he did acknowledge that he misses the Tour. He did not say he wanted to go back now but was able to openly say that he thinks fondly of it ahead of a DP World Tour event this weekend.
Rahm said (translated from Spanish to English):
"I laughed about it [him missing the PGA Tour]. There are tournaments I miss, yeah, I miss Torrey Pines, Palm Springs, Phoenix, Riviera, yeah. I've won three out of four, I've been good at it, but for me it's very special to play in San Diego, Palm Springs is very special too. I miss the tournaments."
The future may or may not hold a way for LIV players to play PGA Tour events and even vice versa. If it does, Rahm will be one of the first to take advantage of that. It all depends on the merger, but the Spaniard said:
"If someday they let me, I'll play for sure, like this coming January [2025], if the PGA Tour would let us, I'll play those two tournaments before the LIV starts for sure."
This is not necessarily a revelation by Rahm. In fact, he has said from the very beginning that there were specific tournaments he knew he'd miss playing. He was the defending champion at some, like the Mexico Open, and he knew he wouldn't be able to repeat as a victor.
Jon Rahm defended PGA Tour amid rivalry
In May, during the PGA Championship, Jon Rahm got a host of questions about the LIV Golf and PGA Tour debate. The two sides are working on a deal, but there's still a chasm in the sport. Rahm, seemingly, was on one side of it.
He rebuffed that idea, though. Via AP, he said:
“You guys keep saying ‘the other side.' But I’m still a PGA Tour member, whether suspended or not. I still want to support the PGA Tour, and I think that’s an important distinction to make.”
The golfer went on to say of the potential merger:
“I think we have a position to set up golf in a very positive way for decades to come. You need the people that do this for a living that are far smarter than I am to come together to be able to make it work.”
Jon Rahm added again that he doesn't feel like he's on the other side of anything, just that he doesn't currently play for the PGA Tour. Rahm's mindset seems to be the setup that golf is aiming for with the PIF merger, should that ever come to fruition.