Masters champion Jon Rahm plans to join Saudi-backed LIV Golf: report
Jon Rahm of Spain celebrates on the 18th green after winning the 2023 Masters Tournament at Augusta National Golf Club on April 09, 2023 in Augusta, Georgia. (Photo by Andrew Redington/Getty Images)
Jon Rahm is making a major career move by reportedly joining LIV Golf.
The 2023 Masters champion can compete with the Saudi-backed tour during the 2024 season with a deal that could surpass $300 million, according to the Wall Street Journal.
Rahm did not commit to playing in the American Express golf tournament and dropped out of the virtual golf league started by fellow golfers Tiger Woods and Rory McIlroy.
Forbes noted that Rahm is the ninth-highest-paid golfer in the world after earning $53 million in 2023.
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Last year, the star golfer suggested that he would not leave the PGA tour and explained that joining LIV Golf was not in his plans and he had not spoken with its league officials.
Rahm became the first Spaniard since Sergio Garcia to win the Masters in April. Seve Ballesteros and Jose Maria Olazabal, also from Spain, and won twice at Augusta National.
Rahm has won four times since the calendar turned from 2022 to 2023, winning the Sentry Tournament of Champions and The American Express in January and capturing the Genesis Invitational title in February, FOX Business reported.
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Several of golf's top players have left the PGA Tour to join live over the past year, including Phil Mickelson, Dustin Johnson, and Brooks Koepka.
News of Rahm heading to LIV Golf comes months after the league partnered with the PGA Tour and European tour during the summer.
In June 2023, the PGA Tour and European tour agreed to a merger with Saudi Arabia's golf interests, creating a commercial operation designed to unify professional golf globally. One of the terms of the deal involved the sides dropping lawsuits involving LIV Golf against each other, the Associated Press reported.
The agreement combined the Public Investment Fund's golf-related commercial businesses and rights — including LIV Golf — with those of the PGA and European tours. The new entity has not been named.
According to the Wall Street Journal, the PGA Tour and LIV Golf have until Dec. 31 to finalize their merger agreement.
FOX Business and the Associated Press contributed to this report. This story was reported from Washington, D.C.