The 2023 U.S. Open at Los Angeles Country Club has the spotlight this week, but the PGA Tour's agreement to merge with Saudi Arabia's Public Investment Fund still weighs heavily on the minds of players and media alike. Speaking to the press ahead of the 123rd playing of the national championship, world No. 2 Jon Rahm —one of the most respected voices in the game — gave his thoughts on the landmark agreement that still has plenty of details to hash out.
"There's a lot of not-answered questions. It's tough when it's the week before a major. Trying not to think about it as much as possible," said Rahm. "I think it gets to a point where you want to have faith in management, and I want to have faith that this is the best thing for all of us, but it's clear that that's not the consensus. I think the general feeling is that a lot of people feel a bit of betrayal from management.
"I understand why they had to keep it so secret … It's just not easy as a player that's been involved, like many others, to wake up one day and see this bombshell. That's why we're all in a bit of a state of limbo because we don't know what's going on and how much is finalized and how much they can talk about, either. It's a state of uncertainty that we don't love, but at the end of the day, I'm not a business expert. Some of those guys on the board and involved in this are. So I'd like to think they're going to make a better decision than I would, but I don't know. We'll see. There's still too many questions to be answered."
Rahm echoes the sentiments of fellow professionals Matt Fitzpatrick, Collin Morikawa and Brooks Koepka that there is simply not enough information available to form an opinion on the matter. The deal may ultimately prove to be beneficial for all involved — an influx of capital into the PGA Tour, stars receiving even more money, all the best players in the world under one umbrella. That's all hearsay at the moment, though.
The deal may not even see the finish line after the U.S. government opened an investigation into the deal, which presents a massive antitrust speed bump. There's a long way to go on this journey. Still, the Spaniard, like many others, would like to receive more answers from PGA Tour commissioner Jay Monahan and other parties involved in the deal.
Until then, it will be out of sight and out of mind as he aims to add to his country's total in major championships and a third loop to his belt.
"No matter what happens, whether I agree with it or not, thanks to the PGA Tour, they give me a platform to play golf at the highest level, and after taking advantage of that possibility, I'm in a situation where my family and my kids don't have to struggle financially ever, and I don't know how many generations I can help if I do it properly," said Rahm. "I'm in a very high state of privilege in this world. I can do what I want. I can do what I love for a living. I have a blast every single day even though I get mad on the golf course every once in a while.
"When I start with that point of view, no matter what happens, I can only be thankful to what's going on. If things change, things change. I'm just -- I'll have to adapt to the situation and will have to make some decisions on what's going on forward, and I'll make some decisions. At the end of the day I'm still very privileged, whether the PGA Tour [and] LIV Golf align or not or who plays and who likes who. It doesn't really matter."
