Jon Rahm is optimistic. “I play a game for a living,” Jon Rahm said Tuesday ahead of LIV Golf UK, the league’s first event in seven weeks. “I can’t really be too upset about how things are going in life. Even though I’m very frustrated on the course very often, off the course I’m very different to what a lot of people think.”
While he’s coming off another disappointing major season, Jon Rahm expressed optimism about the future of LIV Golf ahead of the most uncertain period the league has faced in its history.
The league and its CEO, Scott O’Neil, have been hard at work to find sources of funding to continue operations in 2027 and beyond. Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund (PIF), which has lost nearly $6 billion funding the league since its inception, announced earlier this year it was withdrawing funding.
Even as the league works to find solid footing for its future, signs continue to point to that being nearly impossible with how LIV looks in its current version. There are doubts the final event in Michigan will even take place next month.
Mobii Systems Group Ltd., the Canadian technology company behind the league’s “Any Shot, Any Time” broadcast feature, sued LIV Golf on Friday, June 17, in U.S. District Court in Miami, alleging the league stopped paying its bills this season and owes more than $1 million in unpaid invoices and lost revenue.
Jon Rahm Press Conference
And on Tuesday, LIV Golf’s main feeder tour, the Asian Tour, announced a partnership with the PGA Tour and DP World Tour, which puts many things for LIV in jeopardy, including its ability to keep Official World Golf Ranking points.
Even with the dozens of red lights flashing on the dashboard, those involved with the league seemingly believe a future is possible, even if they refuse to share how.
“We’re in contact with them,” Jon Rahm said when asked about the future of LIV Golf on Tuesday. “We know a lot of what’s going on, yeah. Not that I can share with you guys right now.”
Jon Rahm is the league’s best player. Its biggest star, Bryson DeChambeau, is a soon-to-be free agent who doesn’t need LIV Golf to survive. Yet if LIV were to pay DeChambeau what he’s reportedly asking (figures have reached $500 million), the league product would remain the same yet be further in the hole.
Although DeChambeau has been more publicly supportive of LIV’s future than Jon Rahm (albeit minimal), his actions are those of someone preparing for his next steps. In a follow-up question about his optimism for the league, he was asked point blank whether he expects to be playing LIV Golf in 2027.
His response was revealing, not for what it said, but for what it didn’t. “I’m not going to share anything that I can’t share with you guys right now.” For a league facing mounting financial, legal, and competitive questions, even one of its biggest stars appears unwilling to predict what comes next.
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