The PGA Tour is about to relive its 2022 nightmares. Numerous renowned PGA Tour players defected to LIV Golf in 2022 and shook the entirety of the golf world. With reports floating around, it seems that the PGA Tour pro, Jon Rahm, will be making a run for the money and switching to LIV Golf. The reports of him defecting to the backaway league started when he made the decision to back out of Tiger Woods and Rory McIlroy’s TGL, but it was only a couple of days ago that the news had spread like fire.

An added element to the news is that Rahm has been offered $600 million to join the Saudi-funded league, and his negotiations are almost in the final stage. The Spaniard is insisting on changing the format of the league, and it has been causing a bit of a hold-up in the deal, as per reports. If things go as planned, Rahm will be taking a spot on Sergio Garcia’s Fireballs GC, making it an all-Spanish team. If this seismic shift goes through, its impact on the PGA Tour would indeed be severe and massive.

How would Jon Rahm affect the PGA Tour if he defected? 

Rahm is currently number 3 on the OWGR list, and shifting to LIV Golf will plummet his OWGR ranking eventually. After a long battle with the OWGR authorities, the decision was made that the Saudi league would not be awarded any OWGR points. The defected golfers will only be able to earn points for the world ranking via their major competitions and other qualified events that they might compete in.

The fans and a few golfers have already been calling out OWGR for its criteria, and plummeting Rahm’s ranking will only add to it. It would just lead to more scrutinization and comments from the golf fraternity.

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The Spaniard is one of the biggest names on the Tour, and to lose him will cause a big blow to the PGA Tour. Out of the four majors played in one season, the Masters tournament is one of the most historic ones. Rahm won four times this year, including the 2023 Masters, and for the PGA Tour to lose one more Masters Champion after Phil Mickelson, Dustin Johnson, and others would be devastating.

Six of the previous Masters winners have already defected to LIV Golf, and for the PGAT to witness one more leaving would not really be the best thing. It would raise a lot of alarming questions as to what the PGA Tour is doing wrong and why the Tour’s big names are leaving and joining the rebel league.

The 29-year-old has a huge fan base that is widespread across the entire world. If he shifts to LIV Golf, his fan base will too, and PGAT’s viewership and TV ratings might take a massive hit. Not only viewership, but the overall popularity of the PGA Tour could suffer, as fans will shift their focus to the Saudi-backed league in order to follow the golfer. LIV Golf’s popularity has indeed taken a spike this season, and Rahm’s departure will just add to it.

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Apart from ratings, OWGR, and major tournaments taking a blow, the PGA Tour might witness another one with respect to the DP World Tour players joining LIV Golf instead of the aforementioned Tour.

How would Rahm’s defection lead to fewer new golfers on the European Tour?

For most European Tour players, their next step is to attain a PGA Tour card and compete in its events. Players work really hard to attain PGAT membership for the year and, again, give it their all during the year to retain their membership.

But with so many big names moving to LIV Golf, the chances are that the upcoming and rising DPWT pros may want to switch their interest from PGAT to LIV. They might see better financial, professional, and overall other aspects of LIV Golf as compared to the PGA Tour and incline more towards the former.

Whether or not Rahm makes the switch, the news has taken the entire golf world on a wild ride. Only time will tell if the speculations about his move were true or just a big faux. Stay tuned to find out!

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