Jon Rahm will take the PGA Tour cash for staying loyal if they provide it to him. He doesn’t actually suppose he deserves it, although.
Rahm mentioned on Tuesday forward of the British Open that the gamers who caught with the tour don’t should be compensated financially for not becoming a member of LIV Golf, saying they weren’t compelled to remain.
Rahm gained the primary main of the yr on the Masters and is seeking to seize the final one as nicely to turn out to be the primary Spaniard to win the Open since Seve Ballesteros greater than three many years in the past.
The opportunity of compensation by the tour for many who stayed loyal and declined the large quantities of cash supplied by LIV Golf gained traction after the latest announcement of the proposal of a partnership between the PGA Tour and the Saudis who created the breakaway competitors.
“I perceive the PGA Tour desirous to do one thing for these gamers who helped and stayed on the PGA Tour, however on the similar time — and I’ll be the primary one to say — I wasn’t compelled into something,” Rahm mentioned at a information convention at Royal Liverpool. “It was my alternative to remain. I simply stayed as a result of I believe it’s the only option for myself and for the golf I need to play. Now, with that mentioned, in the event that they need to do it, I’m not going to say no.”
Rahm has been some of the vocal defenders of the tour because the battle with LIV Golf began, and continued to defend it after the shock announcement of the take care of the Saudis.
“All of us had the prospect to go to LIV and take the cash and we selected to remain on the PGA Tour for no matter cause we selected,” he mentioned. “I already make a tremendous residing doing what I do. I’m extraordinarily grateful, and that every one occurred due to the platform the PGA Tour offered me. They’ve accomplished sufficient for me, and their focus needs to be on enhancing the PGA Tour and the sport of golf for the longer term generations.”
Rory McIlroy, the strongest voice for the tour within the dispute with the Saudis, mentioned final month that the loyal gamers in all probability deserved to be compensated, although he acknowledged that it will be tough to make that occur.
Rahm mentioned it remained a “difficult” scenario and a “sport of ready,” however felt that punishment for the defectors needs to be thought-about.
“I do consider that some punishment needs to be so as,” Rahm mentioned. “However I don’t know what — I’m not a politician. That’s not my job. That’s for the disciplinary board and different folks which are paid to try this. My job is to hit the golf ball and attempt to do one of the best I can.”
Rahm, the world No. 3 who leads the tour with 4 wins this season, got here to Royal Liverpool off a break after lacking the minimize on the Vacationers Championship practically a month in the past. He acknowledged he hasn’t performed as constant as he might need needed not too long ago, however the break was already deliberate upfront.
“Once we did the schedule early within the yr we did purposefully add this three-week break,” he mentioned. “Sort of wanted to have slightly little bit of time to relaxation. And due to the schedule we had this yr I haven’t been capable of have as a lot as I might have preferred. It was good to be at house and be Dad for a change with out having to consider golf for just a few weeks.”
Rahm gained his second profession main on the Masters, then completed tied for fiftieth on the PGA Championship and tied for tenth on the U.S. Open. Victory at Hoylake would put him alongside Ballesteros as the one Spaniards to win the Open. Ballesteros gained in 1979, 1984 and 1988.
“To be the primary one to win an Open since Seve for Spain could be fairly particular,” Rahm mentioned. “It’s superb to me that a number of the nice golfers we’ve had haven’t been capable of do it, and so they’ve been shut. It could be a real honor to get there, to get to a few majors, to be the second on the Spanish listing.”