When Jon Rahm introduced he was backing out of TGL, the brand new indoor golf league spearheaded by Tiger Woods and Rory McIlroy, it ignited rumors that the Spaniard could be planning a leap from the PGA Tour to LIV Golf.
McIlroy would not see it that method.
The four-time main champion spoke with reporters at a information convention for his TGL staff, Boston Widespread, on Monday and stated Rahm has given him the impression he’s staying with the PGA Tour.
“I spoke to Jon a pair days in the past and can be very, very stunned if that had been to occur,” McIlroy stated. “I am fairly assured Jon is a PGA Tour participant.”
Rahm, the reigning Masters champ, bowed out of TGL final Thursday after he was included in an preliminary roster of 24 gamers who would take part within the league.
“I’m unhappy to verify that I can’t be taking part within the first TGL season,” Rahm wrote on social media. “Whereas I nonetheless assume it is a terrific alternative, proper now it could require a degree of dedication that I am unable to supply. Better of luck to everybody [involved] and will the most effective staff win!”
TGL officers stated in an announcement that they “perceive that gamers need to stability a variety of totally different sides of their skilled and private lives and respect Jon’s alternative and want him effectively.”
Previously, Rahm has not been as vocal a critic of the Saudi-funded LIV Golf League as McIlroy, and he wished fellow Spaniard Sergio Garcia to be included in future Ryder Cup groups regardless of his defection to LIV. However Rahm made clear in June 2022 that he didn’t play golf for financial causes, and he did not think about LIV’s 54-hole, no-cut format to be worthwhile.
“I’ve all the time been interested by historical past and legacy and proper now the PGA Tour has that,” he stated. “There is a that means whenever you win the Memorial championship. There is a that means whenever you win Arnold Palmer’s occasion at Bay Hill. There is a that means whenever you win L.A., Torrey [Pines], a few of these historic venues. That, to me, issues loads.
“My coronary heart is with the PGA Tour.”
The PGA Tour, the DP World Tour and the Saudi Public Funding Fund entered a framework settlement in June that will see the established excursions obtain funding from the Saudis in a brand new for-profit enterprise. Particulars had been scarce and a Dec. 31 deadline was set to return to a extra concrete deal.
