While the feud between the PGA Tour and LIV Golf has now been brought to a close, plenty of questions remain surrounding the immediate future of the sport.
There has been no indication as to how the new partnership with the Saudi Public Investment Fund (PIF) will affect next season's schedule. Issues such as LIV players returning to the tour and the amount of events golfers will be asked to participate in have yet to be ironed out.
One big cloud hanging over all of this is potential compensation that could be owed to players.
Many who showed their loyalty to the PGA Tour by turning down the riches on offer at LIV Golf felt they have been shortchanged by this deal. Other players took the money and could now face few consequences for their choice as they look set to return to the traditional tour.
As a result, it has been suggested that those who remained could receive some sort of payout as a reward for their original decision.
Jon Rahm had interesting take on LIV Golf compensation for players
While you might assumed that all PGA Tour players would feel entitled to this compensation as a result of turning down LIV Golf, it seems that not everyone shares that opinion.
Jon Rahm turned down a huge amount of money from the Saudi-backed venture, reportedly rejecting an offer worth around $400million to switch tours. Despite leaving such a large sum on the table, he does not necessarily feel that he should be rewarded for his decision.
Speaking ahead of The Open at Royal Liverpool, the Spaniard said that the PGA Tour do not owe the players any sort of payoff due to their decision to stay put.
John Rahm reportedly turned down upwards of nearly 400 million dollars to join LIV before the merger. He was asked if he thinks the players who stayed should still be rewarded for staying on the PGA Tour and he still says no.
Jon is the voice of reason golf needs pic.twitter.com/nsvhEP4jQ5— Tour Pro 🏌️♂️ (@OfficialTourPro) July 18, 2023
It's a tricky question. I understand the PGA Tour wanting to do something for those players that helped and stayed on the PGA Tour.
At the same time, and I'll be the first one to say, I wasn't forced into anything. It was my choice to stay.
Do I think there absolutely should be and must be compensation? No. I chose to stay because I thought it was the best choice for me and the golf I want to play.
That being said, if they want to do it, I'm not going to say no. We all had the chance to go to LIV and take the money, and we chose to stay on the PGA Tour for whatever reason we chose.
I've said it before, I already make an amazing living doing what I do. I'm extremely thankful. That all happened because of the platform that the PGA Tour provided me, so as far as I'm concerned, they've done enough for me and their focus should be on improving the PGA Tour and the game of golf for future generations.
This is an interesting take from Jon Rahm, one you would not necessarily expect.
Many players on the PGA Tour were certainly shortchanged by their decision to turn down LIV Golf. You would imagine that quite a few of them would appreciate being compensated for that loyalty.
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