Jon Rahm (again) can end the LIV-PGA Tour battle

Golf Digest

Once again, the future of professional golf rests with Jon Rahm. Outside the Mickelson division, no player has more self-inflicted damage during the sport’s civil war after spending years rejecting LIV with the force of principle, then abandoning those principles in the fall of 2023 for the Saudi-backed league. The reversal wounded Rahm’s reputation, for hypocrisy has a way of making every future declaration sound negotiable. It also gave LIV the credibility to continue a battle that, at least among Rahm’s peers, appeared to be nearing a truce.

The PGA Tour offered him an escape earlier this year, extending the same immunity granted to Brooks Koepka. Rahm declined, later implying that the terms of his LIV contract had made the decision for him. Now LIV arrives at a season finale that may serve as the league’s epitaph, and Rahm is again the hinge upon which the sport turns.

Golf Digest has learned that social media reports that Rahm has struck a deal with the PGA Tour to return are inaccurate. However, LIV executives are reportedly resigned to losing him in bankruptcy, and his departure would strip an already diminished circuit of its last claim to competitive relevance. Rahm has long bristled at the attention afforded to the game’s other stars. He has all of it now, along with a third chance to do right by the sport, and finally end the nonsense he helped keep alive.

LIV Golf slashes payouts amid reports of players not getting paid and a new lawsuit against league

According to LIV’s media hub, the prize money for this week’s event outside Indianapolis has been cut nearly in half.

By Joel Beall

WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW

Joel Beall 

News of Jon Rahm’s return to the PGA Tour is premature. Late Monday social media was ablaze as a LIV-connected twitter account reported Rahm had struck a deal with the PGA Tour in similar terms to Brooks Koepka earlier this year. However, Golf Digest has learned that, to this point, the report is inaccurate, and that Rahm remains under contract with LIV Golf. LIV has laid the groundwork to file bankruptcy, a move that could release Rahm from his deal, and the Telegraph reported earlier this month that LIV officials are “resigned” to Rahm leaving. Conversely, the PGA Tour has been adamant that the offer extended to Koepka—which was also given to Rahm, Bryson DeChambeau and Cam Smith—may not be presented again, especially with the landscape of LIV so drastically changing in the last several months. For now, Rahm’s future remains ambiguous.

Ryan Herrington 

Captain Dean Robertson has a veteran lineup to work with as the R&A revealed the Great Britain & Ireland Walker Cup team Tuesday. Six of the 10 players are returning from last year’s squad that fell to the U.S. at Cypress Point Club. They include British Amateur champ Stuart Grehan, Eliot Baker, Luke Poulter, Niall Sheils Donegan and Tyler Weaver. Connor Graham, meanwhile, is playing on his third GB&I team. Making their debuts are newly crowned U.S. Amateur champion Jack Whaley, Ben Bolton, Sam Easterbrook and Josh Hill. GB&I hasn’t won the match since 2015, but Robertson, in his third stint as captain, hopes the venue—Ireland’s Lahinch Golf Club—and the blend of players will help change its fortunes. “We know there will be fantastic support for the team in Ireland and our players will be determined to give those supporters plenty to get behind,” Robertson said. “We learned a great deal from Cypress Point and everyone involved is hugely motivated by the challenge ahead.” The matches are set for Sept. 5-6.

Jill Painter Lopez 

Lauren Coughlin has officially secured her spot on the U.S. Solheim Cup team and now there’s just one spot left in the team point standings. Coughlin, 3-0-1 two years ago in Solheim Cup matches, is the sixth player to earn her way onto the team, joining Nelly Korda, Angel Yin, Jennifer Kupcho, Yealimi Noh and Auston Kim. Allisen Corpuz and Andrea Lee are the two players battling for the final spot on points, but Corpuz has the inside track. Lee must win the CPKC Women’s Open this week and have Corpuz finish 40th or worse to advance. Also, the top two players in the world following the Canada event that aren’t already eligible will also secure a spot on the U.S. team. Andrea Lee (No. 37) and Alison Lee (No. 59) would be those two players. Also in the hunt are are Lindy Duncan (No. 61), Jenny Bae (No. 65) and Rose Zhang (No. 66). U.S. team captain Angela Stanford will announce her three captain’s picks on Aug. 24.