The PGA Tour's American Express event have confirmed Jon Rahm will not defend his title at La Quinta Country Club next month amid rumours the Spaniard is set to join LIV Golf.
In recent weeks multiple reports have claimed that Rahm will become a LIV player in 2024, in what would be a huge loss for the PGA Tour. On Tuesday one of the Tour's opening events of the year - the American Express - announced their field, and their was one big name missing from the list.
That name was defending champion Rahm, who won the event by one shot in California in January, the second time the European Ryder Cup star had got his hands on the AmEx title.
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The omission of Rahm only strengthens the rumours that the Spaniard is set to sign with Greg Norman and co. On the back of recent reports, the Masters champion has opted to stay out of the limelight when it comes to either confirming or denying his alleged Saudi switch.
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The Spaniard opted to skip last week's Hero World Challenge in Bahamas, which saw 82-time PGA Tour winner Tiger Woods make a return. During his comeback Woods was questioned on the rumours surrounding Rahm's future, to which he replied : "Hypothetically would it surprise me? Yes.
"But there's so many different things that have happened in the last, as you said, 48 hours but also in the last few weeks. Things have changed and will continue to change. Our deadline's coming up here soon, so there's a lot of moving parts.
Jon Rahm won the American Express earlier this year (Mark J Terrill/AP/REX/Shutterstock)"A lot of different things are happening very quickly because we know, you know, I think today's the first day in December, we don't have a whole lot of time." The future of the Masters champion was also discussed by Jordan Spieth, who was keen to highlight how much a loss Rahm would be to the PGA Tour.
"Jon Rahm is one of the biggest assets that we have on the PGA Tour,” Spieth said. “So it would really be not very good for us in general, because we want to play against the best players in the world, and that’s what Jon is. I know there’s been some guys that have talked to him.
"I know he’s maybe weighing some decisions, maybe not. I really don’t know, so I don’t want to insult him and say he’s weighing decisions if he already knows he’s not or he is. That’s somewhat out of my control, in a way. Obviously, I could speak probably on behalf of 200-plus PGA Tour players in saying that we really hope that he’s continuing with us.”
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