Masters champion Jon Rahm has called for LIV Golf to move to the traditional 72-hole tournament format used on the PGA Tour, as the two circuits continue to compete against each other.
Rahm announced his decision to join LIV in December for a reported $350 million multiyear deal after previously dismissing their 54-hole events, shotgun starts and no cut rules.
With golfers on both circuits having recently expressed opinions that the split between the two leagues is not sustainable and that the sport quickly needs to be reunited, Rahm told the BBC prior to the Masters that he’d like to see the Saudi Arabia-backed circuit move to more traditional rules.
“If there ever was a way where LIV could go to 72 holes, I think it would help all of this argument a lot,” Rahm told the BBC. “The closer I think we can get LIV Golf to some other things the better. I think it would be for some kind of unification to feed into a world tour or something like that.
“I don’t know if I’m alone in this, but I definitely wouldn’t mind going back to 72 holes.”
PGA Tour commissioner Jay Monahan and members of the policy board, including Tiger Woods and other player directors, met with Yasir Al-Rumayyan, governor of Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund, in the Bahamas on March 18.
The PIF, which has financed the LIV Golf League the past three years, is considering making an investment, possibly for much as $3 billion, in PGA Tour Enterprises, the new for-profit entity the PGA Tour formed with Strategic sports Group earlier this year. Led by Fenway sports Group, SSG is a consortium of billionaire sports team owners, athletes and celebrities.
The World No. 3 also said his decision to join LIV Golf from the PGA Tour could prove to be a tipping point in the sport as the two circuits continue to compete against each other.
“That’s a well-thought-out argument. I could be the start of a tipping point in that sense,” Rahm said. “I understood the weight that [my] decision could have and the impact it could have. I understood that perfectly and that’s why it wasn’t an easy decision.
“The balance of golf could be disturbed a little bit. Luckily in my career, especially last year, I accomplished a lot and I got to be one of the bigger names in golf. There are few active players that could have had a bigger impact than myself in that sense. Not to be patting myself on the back too much, but I understood the position I was in.”
Rahm, who is one of 13 LIV Golf League players who will be competing in the Masters this week, will attempt to defend his crown at Augusta National when the tournament gets underway Thursday.
ESPN’s Mark Schlabach contributed to this report.
