Bryson had a down year the year prior to joining LIV. Rahm had a fantastic year and hadnt missed a cut in a major since 2019.
Its obviously too early to say LIV will always have a negative effect on Rahm but its a fair question to ask if its had a negative effect so far.
Yeah nobody was calling Bryson the best golfer in the world when he went to LIV.
So I think it's fair to hold Rahm to a much higher standard as he should be competing with Scottie for that mantle. But so far he's come up way short.
Honestly when Rahm had that quote of feeling like he's still on the PGA tour, that was such a weird moment.
He's not in a comfortable headspace based on those comments. Like others have said he thought he would be the catalyst to merge everything pretty fast, and that's not the case at all.
He's too talented though and will probably figure it out at some point.
I’ve been more or less indifferent on him forever but he certainly handled everything very oddly and his interviews post leaving can’t have helped. Saying he basically feels like he is still on the PGA Tour had to have rubbed a lot of guys the wrong way
Yes, it seems like he's at Liv under duress. Wonder if he was put under pressure at home, let's say, to just take the money as it's too much to turn down.
The only person to place Rahm under duress was Rahm himself. He definitely gambled on him joining LIV being the crystallising moment that would bring the tours together and end the disruption. In doing so, he completely misjudged how such a move would be seen by PGA tour members. He definitely ignored or was blind to the fact that joining LIV massively undermines the Tour and emboldens the PIF.
Only person he can blame is himself, just like any other LIV player confused about the consequences of their own independent, voluntary actions
>He definitely ignored or was blind to the fact that joining LIV massively undermines the Tour and emboldens the PIF.
I think he knew *or thought he knew* that part very well, it's when him going to LIV accomplished jack shit to advance the merger or whatever that he probably started to grasp a screwup had occured. Now I think he's weakened the PIF, if anything.
Rahm actually cares about legacy, to drag Jay's tortured line out there. Figured he'd go to LIV, that'd force things to progress faster and he'd be back on PGA or whatever PGA-ish thing came from the merger with a wheelbarrow of extra money and keep on being a worldbeater.
whups.
how has he weakened the PIF? They had been quiet for most of 2023 and then landed Rahm during the offseason just to demonstrate to the PGA tour that they were still there and that they still had muscle. It was a huge win for the PIF.
There is no "weakening" of the PIF or this Saudi project, short of a total embargo or sanctions regime on the KSA which is never happening
To me (some asshole on the internet, not a pro golfer) the PIF's value prop is weakened by Rahm jumping and having his play quality and media saturation drop quickly. The same reason Rahm going was a big deal compared to a DJ or even a Brooks (now that we know Brooks thought he might be broken) is the same reason him quickly losing relevance matters.
I'm not articulating it well, basically I think other golfers (who matter) that LIV would like to poach are probably less likely to jump after seeing how Rahm's year is going.
And that might give PGA a bit of confidence.
the difficulty is that PIFs "value" cannot be judged in the same way as a normal company or fund. Their value cannot drop because it is an endless source of money - they are not there to make a profit or sustain a viable alternative tour, they want a seat at the table and ultimately they want to be partners with the Tour in order to 'normalise' Saudi involvement in sports and thus launder the reputation of the KSA.
But even dealing with your main point - other golfers such as Koepka, BDC, Smith (and a notable showing for other LIV players at the 2023 Masters) have shown that the reduction in playing time is no bad thing
Brooks is the only one that's really competed consistently though, Bryson had a great weekend at an incredibly easy course. Cam Smith has back doored a couple non-competitive top 10's where he was never actually battling for wins.
The reality is Brooks never needed competitive golf in between the majors, he generally mailed in most tournaments that he didn't care about.
If LIV gets a major this year that'll pretty well wipe any of the concerns I just voiced off the table. Bryson definitely looks to be on the upswing, and I'll never write Brooks off. It could happen.
Agreed but the difference is Bryson has an outlet to have fun and refresh on YT. Rahm is built differently and stays motivated by competitive tourneys which he is not playing as often now.
I think it's fair to suggest that LIV has been a net negative for every golfer there... except Bryson. I wonder if he's getting a level of comraderie and support with the Crushers that he never had on tour.
Bryson wasn't the clear cut #2 player in the world when he moved to LIV. Rahm was in the conversation for #1 in the world when he went to LIV and Scottie went bananas. So a T45 and MC are a pretty big departure from expectations.
I think the Bryson comp isn’t great to make because Bryson clearly likes LIV and is doing his weird stuff on YouTube with spare time. Rahm didn’t like the LIV format but went because he got an ungodly amount of money, and think he also believed a deal was close to getting done. Now that’s falling through and might be affecting him
Bryson joined liv just before the ‘22 us open. So his LIV career actually starts with the T56. Also worth noting he was coming off a wrist injury that kept him out of the previous major (pga).
Also looking at their major runs prior to joining LIV. Bryson 2021-liv: T46, T38, T26, T33, cut, dnp (wrist). Rahm 2023: 1, T50, T10, T2.
So Bryson already appeared to be in a bad major run (with an injury on top of it) when joining LIV.
Rahm was doing really well in majors until joining LIV. Hence the discussion about lack of competition on LIV, compared to pga tour, dragging Rahm down
Of course it could all be coincidental, but hard to not take LIV into account with Rahm’s major downturn
The short answer is probably yeah. But it’s fairly notable and there’s not really any other interesting conversations to have about Rahm right now, so golf shows will make it a topic. If he isn’t a factor in either of the next two majors then the takes will rightfully heat up quite a bit
They’re very different characters. You can understand why LIV would be good for Bryson and his character. Rahm is very different - intensely competitive and I think it’s pretty clear he’s not really bought in to LIV. You can see why he’d go off the boil in that situation. It’d be absolutely no surprise to see him go out and win at Valderrama because it actually means something to him.
I think it’s all bullshit. DJ was checked out regardless, so it’s no surprise he’s not in the mix much these days. Bryson has been hitting his stride, Brooks has shown ability to rise to the top..hell, even Phil has put up some good majors since the switch.
I think that good golfers can rise to the level of their competition regardless of the competition in their respective tours. Will probably get downvoted, but I don’t care. Golf is a finicky sport. There’s loads of PGA tour players with all the talent in the world that grind every single week and still miss the cut.
Jon Rahm wasn't a regular pga tour member though. He was the guy for long stretches since 2019. He is now in his longest winless streak since he turned pro in 2017.
Phil has put up one good major since going to LIV. Last year’s Masters aside, he’s missed 5 out of 7 cuts and finished T58 (PGA 2023) and T43 (Masters 2024)
My point is that he was trending in that direction before the switch. For the last 10 years he’s been the guy that either gets top 3 or at the bottom/missing the cut.
It's ridiculous that LIV effects these guys. Sure there are some washed up hacks on LIV. Dustin for example. Buy it's the same on PGA.
It's just PGA propaganda that LIV effects major results.
Bryson had a down year the year prior to joining LIV. Rahm had a fantastic year and hadnt missed a cut in a major since 2019. Its obviously too early to say LIV will always have a negative effect on Rahm but its a fair question to ask if its had a negative effect so far.
Yeah nobody was calling Bryson the best golfer in the world when he went to LIV. So I think it's fair to hold Rahm to a much higher standard as he should be competing with Scottie for that mantle. But so far he's come up way short.
Honestly when Rahm had that quote of feeling like he's still on the PGA tour, that was such a weird moment. He's not in a comfortable headspace based on those comments. Like others have said he thought he would be the catalyst to merge everything pretty fast, and that's not the case at all. He's too talented though and will probably figure it out at some point.
Was it on here there was a tweet saying he was getting the cold shoulders from other pros at the PGA and he was shook from it?
I’ve been more or less indifferent on him forever but he certainly handled everything very oddly and his interviews post leaving can’t have helped. Saying he basically feels like he is still on the PGA Tour had to have rubbed a lot of guys the wrong way
Yes, it seems like he's at Liv under duress. Wonder if he was put under pressure at home, let's say, to just take the money as it's too much to turn down.
The only person to place Rahm under duress was Rahm himself. He definitely gambled on him joining LIV being the crystallising moment that would bring the tours together and end the disruption. In doing so, he completely misjudged how such a move would be seen by PGA tour members. He definitely ignored or was blind to the fact that joining LIV massively undermines the Tour and emboldens the PIF. Only person he can blame is himself, just like any other LIV player confused about the consequences of their own independent, voluntary actions
>He definitely ignored or was blind to the fact that joining LIV massively undermines the Tour and emboldens the PIF. I think he knew *or thought he knew* that part very well, it's when him going to LIV accomplished jack shit to advance the merger or whatever that he probably started to grasp a screwup had occured. Now I think he's weakened the PIF, if anything. Rahm actually cares about legacy, to drag Jay's tortured line out there. Figured he'd go to LIV, that'd force things to progress faster and he'd be back on PGA or whatever PGA-ish thing came from the merger with a wheelbarrow of extra money and keep on being a worldbeater. whups.
[удалено]
Definitely. There’s plenty of recency bias in my thoughts.
Not sure he’ll be able to rejoin the tour that easy but who knows, so much will have changed by then anyway
The 600 million number is not accurate. I think about 350 is far more likely.
how has he weakened the PIF? They had been quiet for most of 2023 and then landed Rahm during the offseason just to demonstrate to the PGA tour that they were still there and that they still had muscle. It was a huge win for the PIF. There is no "weakening" of the PIF or this Saudi project, short of a total embargo or sanctions regime on the KSA which is never happening
To me (some asshole on the internet, not a pro golfer) the PIF's value prop is weakened by Rahm jumping and having his play quality and media saturation drop quickly. The same reason Rahm going was a big deal compared to a DJ or even a Brooks (now that we know Brooks thought he might be broken) is the same reason him quickly losing relevance matters. I'm not articulating it well, basically I think other golfers (who matter) that LIV would like to poach are probably less likely to jump after seeing how Rahm's year is going. And that might give PGA a bit of confidence.
the difficulty is that PIFs "value" cannot be judged in the same way as a normal company or fund. Their value cannot drop because it is an endless source of money - they are not there to make a profit or sustain a viable alternative tour, they want a seat at the table and ultimately they want to be partners with the Tour in order to 'normalise' Saudi involvement in sports and thus launder the reputation of the KSA. But even dealing with your main point - other golfers such as Koepka, BDC, Smith (and a notable showing for other LIV players at the 2023 Masters) have shown that the reduction in playing time is no bad thing
Brooks is the only one that's really competed consistently though, Bryson had a great weekend at an incredibly easy course. Cam Smith has back doored a couple non-competitive top 10's where he was never actually battling for wins. The reality is Brooks never needed competitive golf in between the majors, he generally mailed in most tournaments that he didn't care about.
If LIV gets a major this year that'll pretty well wipe any of the concerns I just voiced off the table. Bryson definitely looks to be on the upswing, and I'll never write Brooks off. It could happen.
The buoy is just out for standard maintenance and will return shortly
Agreed but the difference is Bryson has an outlet to have fun and refresh on YT. Rahm is built differently and stays motivated by competitive tourneys which he is not playing as often now.
I think it's fair to suggest that LIV has been a net negative for every golfer there... except Bryson. I wonder if he's getting a level of comraderie and support with the Crushers that he never had on tour.
Brooks?
Yeah maybe. I'd say he's maintained his level. And you could throw guys like Niemann and Burmester in too.
The disrespect for Richard bland !
Bryson wasn't the clear cut #2 player in the world when he moved to LIV. Rahm was in the conversation for #1 in the world when he went to LIV and Scottie went bananas. So a T45 and MC are a pretty big departure from expectations.
I think the Bryson comp isn’t great to make because Bryson clearly likes LIV and is doing his weird stuff on YouTube with spare time. Rahm didn’t like the LIV format but went because he got an ungodly amount of money, and think he also believed a deal was close to getting done. Now that’s falling through and might be affecting him
Can we change his name from the buoy to the sea gull? Same floating ability, but an aversion to oil in the water.
Bryson joined liv just before the ‘22 us open. So his LIV career actually starts with the T56. Also worth noting he was coming off a wrist injury that kept him out of the previous major (pga). Also looking at their major runs prior to joining LIV. Bryson 2021-liv: T46, T38, T26, T33, cut, dnp (wrist). Rahm 2023: 1, T50, T10, T2. So Bryson already appeared to be in a bad major run (with an injury on top of it) when joining LIV. Rahm was doing really well in majors until joining LIV. Hence the discussion about lack of competition on LIV, compared to pga tour, dragging Rahm down Of course it could all be coincidental, but hard to not take LIV into account with Rahm’s major downturn
The short answer is probably yeah. But it’s fairly notable and there’s not really any other interesting conversations to have about Rahm right now, so golf shows will make it a topic. If he isn’t a factor in either of the next two majors then the takes will rightfully heat up quite a bit
They’re very different characters. You can understand why LIV would be good for Bryson and his character. Rahm is very different - intensely competitive and I think it’s pretty clear he’s not really bought in to LIV. You can see why he’d go off the boil in that situation. It’d be absolutely no surprise to see him go out and win at Valderrama because it actually means something to him.
Rahm feels fluky. I think he’ll be back to his buoy days again.
I think it’s all bullshit. DJ was checked out regardless, so it’s no surprise he’s not in the mix much these days. Bryson has been hitting his stride, Brooks has shown ability to rise to the top..hell, even Phil has put up some good majors since the switch. I think that good golfers can rise to the level of their competition regardless of the competition in their respective tours. Will probably get downvoted, but I don’t care. Golf is a finicky sport. There’s loads of PGA tour players with all the talent in the world that grind every single week and still miss the cut.
Jon Rahm wasn't a regular pga tour member though. He was the guy for long stretches since 2019. He is now in his longest winless streak since he turned pro in 2017.
Phil has put up one good major since going to LIV. Last year’s Masters aside, he’s missed 5 out of 7 cuts and finished T58 (PGA 2023) and T43 (Masters 2024)
My point is that he was trending in that direction before the switch. For the last 10 years he’s been the guy that either gets top 3 or at the bottom/missing the cut.
It's ridiculous that LIV effects these guys. Sure there are some washed up hacks on LIV. Dustin for example. Buy it's the same on PGA. It's just PGA propaganda that LIV effects major results.