LIV’s Jon Rahm still considers himself part of PGA Tour

LOUISVILLE: Jon Rahm is back to compete against his former PGA Tour brethren this week in Louisville, Ky., and even before the first competitive shot in the PGA Championship has been fired, the former World No. 1 has the field aflutter.

Rahm was the latest to bolt to Saudi Arabia-backed LIV Golf, yet on Tuesday he still claimed PGA Tour ties, even as his pockets are filled with a reported $500 million he received for switching tours.

If Rahm was there to talk about another chance at winning a major title at Valhalla Golf Club, which is playing host to its fourth PGA Championship, the conversation became anything but. “So you guys keep saying the other side, but I’m still a PGA Tour member,” Rahm said when asked how he sees recent upheaval on the PGA Tour board now that he is an LIV member. “Whether it’s suspended or not, I still want to support the PGA Tour and I think that is an important distinction to make.”

Except that Rahm could have made the distinction himself, by staying in an organization that he claims means so much to him. He elected to make the jump, but it certainly wasn’t because of how LIV runs its events.

Rahm has been critical of LIV’s 54-hole formats both before he joined the tour and as recently as last month when he played at The Masters. It’s called LIV, after all, the Roman numeral for 54.

While making the best of his LIV reality should be his focus now, the PGA Tour remains on his mind. “I don’t feel like I’m on the other side -- I’m just not playing there -- at least personally,” Rahm said.

All along, Rahm has been conflicted. He declared his “fealty” to the PGA Tour way back in early 2022. And while saying it was the only time he would address the subject, he repeated the loyalty stance multiple times as he bashed the LIV format along the way. But with rumors circulating late last year that Rahm might defect, the native of Spain made the move official in December. “