Although Jon Rahm now calls LIV Golf home after his reported £475million move to the Saudi Arabian-backed circuit, he still is hoping for the PGA Tour's success and wishes the best for the group.
On Tuesday, the Spaniard spoke with reporters before the PGA Championship about the lack of progress between the PGA Tour and LIV, Rory McIlroy not being allowed to return to the board and what he thought of the situation from "the other side." It appeared as if the phrase irked Rahm as he immediately explained his standing.
"See, you guys keep saying 'the other side' but I'm still a PGA Tour member, whether suspended or not," Rahm told reporters. "I still want to support the PGA Tour. And I think that's an important distinction to make. I don't feel like I'm on the other side. I'm just not playing there. That's at least personally."
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Rahm added that he ultimately does not know how negotiations are going because he is "no longer a part of those discussions." Still, Rahm wants to see a resolution that is "beneficial" for everyone, despite having little to no knowledge of what is happening behind closed doors.
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The Spaniard was then asked what he believed a good resolution would look like, to which he replied that all leadership bodies would have to come together to address the needs of each circuit and how those could potentially line up with other needs.
"Well, I think at this point, PIF, PGA Tour, DP World Tour, maybe even some of the other governing bodies need to get together and see what that looks like," Rahm continued. "Because everybody is going to have a different idea, and I think everybody's going to have to give something back or have some compromises to make that work.
Jon Rahm toured Valhalla with Shane Lowry before the PGA Championship (Photo by Ross Kinnaird/Getty Images)"We've heard Rory mention that world tour are the best players in the world playing together. Yeah, I would agree I would love to be able to see that. Like I said many times, we have the opportunity to put golf on a different level of the map and make it more global than ever, and I fully support that idea."
Despite most LIV defectors not being allowed to participate in PGA-sanctioned events, certain exceptions have been made for others to participate. For Rahm specifically, as the 2023 Masters Champion and 2021 U.S. Open Champion, those gave him five-year exemptions into the PGA Championship and The Open.
That is not the first time Rahm has expressed wanting to play in PGA Tour events despite being affiliated with LIV Golf. Ahead of LIV Adelaide in late April, the 29-year-old revealed he still wanted to play in a handful of tournaments not currently on his calendar as the leader of Legion XIII.
"Right now, obviously, it's 14 LIV events that I want to play," Rahm said at the time. "So that, majors, Ryder Cup for sure, and then after that, yeah, there's some PGA Tour events that if it's not conflicting with my LIV schedule I'd love to go play.
"I've said numerous times and I'll say it again, Palm Springs [the American Express], Torrey Pines [Farmers Insurance Open], Phoenix [WM Phoenix Open], LA [Genesis Invitational], if I'm allowed to play, the Players [Players Championship]. Those are the events that if I could, I would love to play."
Rahm will tee off from Valhalla for the first time with Cameron Young and Rickie Fowler for the first two days of the tournament.
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