Jon Rahm makes defiant PGA Tour membership claim despite jump to LIV Golf

Jon Rahm had his PGA Tour member status suspended the moment he signed with the rival LIV Golf League for upwards of $600 million.

Yet, ahead of the PGA Championship at Valhalla, the two-time major winner pushed back on the notion that he’s no longer affiliated with the PGA Tour. Rahm was asked about his perspective on the PGA Tour policy board chaos amid slow negotiations with Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund (PIF), as a member of the “other side.”

“You guys keep saying the other side but I’m still a PGA Tour member, whether suspended or not,” Rahm said at Valhalla Golf Club. “I still want to support the PGA Tour. And I think that’s an important distinction to make. I don’t feel like I’m on the other side, I’m just not playing there.”

“I don’t feel like I’m on the other side. I’m just not playing there. That’s, at least, personally.”

Rahm did not give up his PGA Tour membership, unlike high-profile defectors such as Phil Mickelson and Dustin Johnson. Rahm has spoken frankly about missing out on PGA Tour events throughout 2024.

“I’m not going to lie; for everybody who said this would be easy, some things have been, but not being able to defend some titles that mean a lot to me hasn’t,” Rahm said in March. “I love Palm Springs. I’ve been able to win twice there. Riviera is about as charismatic of a golf course as we have. It’s definitely a week that it’s fantastic for a lot of us, and it’s a fan and player favorite. Not being there was difficult. I still watched the broadcast. I still watch golf because I love watching it. But it’s hard.”

Rahm ranks second in the LIV Golf individual standings but is yet to win an event. His Legion XIII team has two victories.

Earlier on Tuesday, Tiger Woods described talks between the PGA Tour and PIF as having a “long way to go.”

“I think there’s a way of coexisting,” Rahm said before the Players Championship. “And if there’s some type of union, I don’t know what that looks like, but…I just want to be able to see the best in the world compete against the best in the world, whatever that looks like.

“I hope I get to tee it up at The Players again.”

The 2023 Masters champ shot finished a disappointing T45 (+9) at Augusta National in April.