Can LIV Golf survive without Jon Rahm? Tour Confidential | News

Check in every week for the unfiltered opinions of our writers and editors as they delve into the hottest topics in sports, and join the conversation by tweeting us at @golf_com. This week, we discuss Jon Rahm’s decision to reject LIV 2.0 and what the PGA Tour should do.

Jon Rahm is officially out of LIV Golf 2.0, his lawyer announced last weeka major blow to the league which is already hitting the water after a short time of failure. With already few stars, can LIV Golf survive without Rahm on board?

Josh Berhow, managing editor (@Josh_Berhow): Any league is only as strong as its stars, so Rahm’s departure is obviously a massive loss. You need these tentpoles to market your product and bring eyes, and LIV already has a few of them. Rahm is a bit like a Jenga piece – pulling his block alone doesn’t bring down the entire tower, but pull a few more blocks and things can get messy in a hurry.

Sean Zak, Senior Writer: Just because it continues doesn’t necessarily mean much. But losing Rahm is absolutely massive, even if it was expected. He was one of two LIV golfers the world cared about during the majors. He was one of a few LIV golfers to compete in the majors. The league can survive in an extremely cut derivative form, which it has thought to do for the last few months. But it all feels a bit like a hospice golf league.

Zephyr Melton, Associate Editor for Game Improvement (@zephyrmelton): Survive in terms of continuing to stage professional golf tournaments? Probably yes. Survive how to be a major player in the global golf landscape? No chance. Without the names that have been lost, the tour is no different from the Sunshine Tour or Challenge Tour.

A couple of other Spaniards – Sergio Garcia and David Puig — also appear in LIV, though Rahm’s news was certainly the headliner. If you are a LIV player now with options, what do you think? Is Rahm’s departure the start of an exodus?

Berhow: There are a lot of LIV players who don’t have as many options, so their place in the league feels more secure. But those aren’t the ones you should really worry about. There are only a handful that you really need to watch. What does Joaquin Niemann think? What about Tyrrell Hatton? And, more importantly, how does letting Rahm affect Bryson DeChambeau’s decision? Bryson is more marketable than Rahm, and now all eyes are on him and what he might decide to do. He holds a lot of power when it comes to the future of LIV, but ironically not so much with the PGA Tour, which Bryson needs more than Bryson.

Zak: Rahm is a precedent, which is all LIV has ever really been. Phil Mickelson set the precedent by committing early. So did Dustin Johnson. This is a precedent in the opposite direction. I’m not sure if Rahm’s inclusion matters too much to, say, Cameron Smith, but I think many golf fans desire it mattered to Cameron Smith. That is, if a league with only a handful of top players loses theirs better player, it really is must inspire others to follow their path. I will just wait and watch, as I did in the summer of 22.

Melton: I expect those without a solid state elsewhere to stay, but for those who can ensure a soft landing, LIV will be in the rearview mirror. They have already cashed in on their payday. No reason to stay.

What are the PGA Tour and CEO Brian Rolapp doing now? Rahm didn’t accept the deal that was offered to Brooks Koepka through the Returning Member Program, and Rolapp didn’t roll out the red carpet for LIV players who wanted to come back. But should I make an exception for Rahm? Is the one year suspension fair? What do you think will and should happen?

Berhow: Rolapp said the Return membership program had an expiration date, and I think it would be a terrible look to bring Rahm back immediately and with just a few slaps on the wrist. Yes, it will make the PGA Tour stronger. (I want Scottie and Rory battling Rahm more often than everyone else.) But he also decided to take hundreds of millions of dollars and go to a league that was trying to bury the other. I think a one-year suspension, where we see Rahm on the DP World Tour and in the majors, at the very least, is enough. And if the penalty is something like that, and you’re a player on the PGA Tour, are you okay with that? It would still have a bad taste in my mouth.

Zak: I don’t think Rolapp should exempt anyone. There are a clear path through the DP World Tour. If Rolapp wants to expand it a touch, in the Series of Champions 2028, now would be the time – before these paths were all decided – to clear a little access without many people noticing. That would give him plenty of credit with the 150 or so other players he’s asking to fight for their futures next year. Why shouldn’t Rahm fight as hard, or harder?

Melton: I agree with Zak. If you can play your way back, good. But there should be no special treatment for those who have passed their opportunity to return to the past. The Tour has shown it can survive without them – and will continue to do so.

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It was only three years ago that LIV shocked the golf world by luring Rahm, then the Masters champion, away from the PGA Tour. But now Rahm, at some point, will probably play on the PGA Tour again. What will Rahm’s LIV stint mean for his legacy?

Berhow: It will always come down to how many majors someone won or their Ryder Cup heroics, and Rahm, already with two major titles and a strong Ryder Cup resume, should be fine in those departments. I’d be surprised if he doesn’t win at least one more major title. But years from now you can’t tell his story without the chapter that included him leaving the Tour for money and then leaving when things predictably didn’t go as planned. I’m sure he won’t be losing much sleep over it. At the time when some of this discussion of the rival golf league started six years ago, Rory McIlroy said that he was not interested and wanted to be on the “right side of history”. Regardless of what you think of Rory, I think there is something to this.

Zak: I think Josh will end up being correct, even if he feels generous right now. It will be three years, in the end, that Rahm played at LIV, and during those years he absolutely dominated that competition. He just didn’t dominate the rest of pro golf. He dominated the Ryder Cup. And he’s competed in a few majors — just not many. I think you can overcome any lingering weirdness pretty easily by playing good golf for the next few years. But I’m not sure his LIV stint will always look good on paper.

Melton: As the old saying goes, winning cures all. If Rahm returns to his winning ways post-LIV, all will be forgiven. If not, it will go down as one of the greatest in the history of golf.

Twenty players earned 2027 PGA Tour membership via the Korn Ferry Tour Championship on Sunday, including 19-year-old Blades Brown, who now becomes the youngest player to graduate to the PGA Tour via the Korn Ferry Tour. Brown has been a rising star for years, but now we’re getting to see him even more on the big stage. Is the hype true? Why are golf fans excited?

Zak: Let’s put it this way – Blades Brown is closer to the age of No. 6 Am Miles Russell, who is still in high school, than Jackson Koivun, who has just splashed on the scene in a big way. I used to say that Brown made it to the PGA Tour his way and is just out of high school. It wasn’t just a warm month that brought him here. He is absolutely the real deal and I am excited to watch a full season of him at the highest level. I hope he can hang on, and even enter the Signature Events. (I suspect he might get a sponsor exemption or two).

Berhow: The potential is certainly there, but will it deliver? We’ll have to wait and find out, and I think it’s fair to give it some time too. We’ve seen many “can’t miss” prospects struggle to make an immediate impact on the PGA Tour lately, with Koivun being the main exception. But it will be a lot of fun to see what Blades can do next year and a great story to watch.

Melton: Love me some Blades Brown. Unfortunately, there’s no telling how his game will translate to the next level. We see that the prospects cannot be missed first.

Speaking of those 20 graduates of Korn Ferry Tourgives our readers a pro – not named Blades Brown – they should have on their radar.

Zak: I’m excited to watch Dylan Menante, best known as the fastest player in golf. I would like to watch him and Ludvig Aberg start first in a 2 ball and set a proper pace for everyone. Every KFT player talks about how fast Dylan plays, and the numbers back up. I talked to him about the pace of the game in May, what you can take a look here.

Berhow: There’s a good mix, as usual, of young talent and more experienced 30-year-olds finally earning their cards, but I think it’s worth highlighting the guy who won the entire points race, Ross Steelman. Only because strong Korn Ferry Tour seasons translate well on the big stage, and Steelman has won twice and had nine top-10s. Also, he rocks a great mustache.

Melton: Cole Sherwood. Gordon Sargent’s former college teammate who has steadily progressed through pro golf since leaving Vanderbilt. It may not be as catchy as some others, but it’s a damn solid player.