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When we last saw him at a major tournament, John Rahm was feeling certain of his insecurities.
He made that clear, too.
“A lot of you talked about not knowing about last week’s news and what the future holds,” a reporter began last month at the US Open. “How frustrating is that…”
Before he could finish, however, Ram entered.
“Add me to that, by the way.”
The next 15 minutes or so at Los Angeles Country Club followed to no avail. The third-ranked player in the world spoke of his “faith in management”. And whether officials will make better decisions than him. He wondered how much opinions were valued. At that point, the contentious deal between the PGA Tour and Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund—which would create a new for-profit corporation and end pending litigation between the Tour and PIF-funded LIV Golf—was a week old, and feelings were raw. In short, Tour and LIV have battled for a year, and now they are buddies. The reaction of the people, including Ram, was understandably surprised.
But now they play another major tournament, The Open Championship. And there was Ram again at the pre-tournament press conference. Has progress been made? Did time possibly play a role in wound healing? In the month that followed, a congressional hearing revealed some of the causes, but the methods remain largely unknown.
On Tuesday at Royal Liverpool, Ram’s comments were at least somewhat provocative. And it might tell you where things are headed.
Those frustrations? Small.
“Well, what you guys saw was a lot of initial reactions,” said Ram. “Obviously it was our initial feelings as to what happened, and now a little bit of a realization that, well, now we have to wait until January 1st or when the agreement says they need to end those negotiations. Right now, it’s kind of a waiting game.
“Hopefully they can get to — I don’t even know what the word is, partnership or — because it’s not really an amalgamation. I don’t know. A partnership that they’re both happy with what the outcome will be, and everyone can move forward to be the best golf product we can put out there. Whatever that looks like , I don’t know.
“I think it’s obviously calming down, and now we’re all waiting to see how this moves forward.”
What about communication? Was there any?
Yes, Ram said.
“When they needed to know where our heads were, they reached out and called me, and I gave them my opinion,” Ram said. “They’ve been fairly open about it. They’ve hired some people on tour to come to the tournaments, and they’re kind of between us and some of the upper management.
“Yes, there was a connection, yes.”
What about tour commissioner Jay Monahan?
If there is any lightning bolt in all of this, it is Monahan, who was reportedly just one of four people who negotiated the deal, along with Tourism Policy board members Ed Herlihy and Jamie Dunn, and Yasser Al-Rumayyan, the governor of the Public Investment Fund. . It was only last week, at the Scottish Open, in fact, that pro Xander Schauffele said he had “a lot less” faith in Monahan.
Ram?
“My opinion of him? He said… I wouldn’t say he changed.” Jay behaved professionally and very well with me and my family. I’ve seen him stop to talk to my mom and dad at quite a few tournaments now, and he’s been really good to my family. In that sense, he’s a really good guy. That’s all I can say.
“Now, in terms of what he’s been doing for us and the PGA Tour, I think he’s done a great job. I would say it was unexpected what happened. I think the PGA Tour management, the role that they took on without us knowing, was very unexpected, but I still think it’s He’s doing a great job. Now that that’s happened, I think it’s fair to give them the right time to sort things out.
“I still think they have the players’ best interest at heart. All we have now, is a framework agreement. It’s an agreement to get an agreement. We don’t have anything at the moment to say or judge what they’ve done. That’s all I can say.”
there is more.
In the six weeks since the deal, one hotly discussed topic has been potential player compensation for those pros who turned down LIV money in order to stay with the Tour. A day after the deal was announced, at the Canadian Open, professional Rory McIlroy said he believed professionals should be rewarded. Two days later, after the Canadiens’ first round, pro Chaison Hadley wanted it too.
“I’d like to get some loyalty,” he said, “I mean, I felt—these guys didn’t do the wrong thing, who went to LIV. They made a business decision. I don’t hold that against anyone. But I would like to be rewarded for my decision to stay.” Sincerely.”
Ram?
We’ll end things here with his answer. And his sense of humor, which is probably saying something, too.
“So I understand that the PGA Tour wants to do something for those players who have helped and stayed on the PGA Tour,” Ram said, “but at the same time — and I’ll be the first to say — I wasn’t forced into anything. It was my choice to stay.”
“Do I think they should be and there should be compensation? No, I just stayed because I think it is the best option for myself and the golfer I want to play.
“Now, though, if they wanted to do it, I wouldn’t say no.”