Former Ryder Cup skipper on Jon Rahm LIV Golf rumours: "I'd be surprised"

Former European Ryder Cup captain Paul McGinley says he would be surprised if the rumours about Jon Rahm turn out to be true. 

Ever since Rahm, 29, decided to opt out of Tiger Woods and Rory McIlroy's TGL the speculation over his future has been intense. 

The PGA Tour superstar and 2023 Masters champion is said to have penned six-year LIV Golf deal that will see him have his own team in the rival league. 

His alleged contract is said to be in the region of $300-600m. Of course, this is all just conjecture as the Spaniard hasn't been confirmed as a LIV player yet. 

Although it is interesting neither the golfer nor his management team have put out a statement to clarify the current state of affairs. 

In an interview with Martin Dempster of The Scotsman, McGinley, 56, said he would be surprised if Rahm were to make the leap to LIV. 

"Everybody is in the dark because he hasn't denied it," he told the paper. "But any of us who know Jon would be surprised if he did that.

"But what we have learned in the last two years is that you can never discount anything, so it's not going to be discounted by anyone within the game.

"You know, at the moment the game is a diluted product and my hope is that at the end of these negotiations it won't be a diluted product any more.

"Hopefully we can get to a place where it's unified and in a better place again. I don't think the public benefits from a diluted product.

"I think the whole game would benefit from a more united product again and hopefully we can get to that place."

 

 

 

 

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Rahm, like a number of elite golfers, has discussed LIV at length over the past two years. 

Even before the rival league launched, he declared his 'fealty' to the PGA Tour and criticised LIV's format. 

"It's not a proper golf tournament," he said of their 54-hole, shotgun start events. 

Before the 151st Open, he talked in depth of his reasons for not joining LIV. 

He spoke of having amassed such vast wealth through professional golf that $300-400m "wouldn't change my life". 

Rahm has also been a staunch advocate of golf's history, wanting to create his own legacy by emulating his hero Seve Ballesteros. 

Read more:

• Tiger Woods finds himself at epicentre of latest LIV Golf row: "Utter absurdity"
• Jordan Spieth becomes latest PGA Tour star to discuss Jon Rahm's future
• Tiger Woods gives verdict on Jon Rahm's alleged $300m LIV Golf switch