We’ve all been ghosted at some point, but we rarely talk about it on an ESPN broadcast. To be honest, most of us aren’t Jon Rahm, and we didn’t make a controversial move to LIV Golf, allegedly turning down one of the world’s finest sportsmen.
That appears to be what happened when Rahm departed the PGA Tour in December to join LIV Golf for $450 million. Rahm immediately attempted to text Woods to find out why he had left, but received no response.
Jon Rahm sitdown Part 1. 🔥 Appreciate his direct candor.
•Why LIV? Why now?
•What changed his mind?
•A path back to The Tour?
•What have Rory and Tiger said?
•What role did money play? Family?
•And had he not won @TheMasters, would he have even gone to LIV at all? pic.twitter.com/717f6orFDo— Marty Smith (@MartySmithESPN) February 25, 2024
“Tiger? “No, not really,” Rahm said when ESPN’s Marty Smith asked if he had heard back from Woods. “I mean, Tiger, I texted him and the people that try to reach out, you know, the process, when I signed and I just let him know, ‘Hey, you know, this is a personal decision.'”
Rahm did not go into any detail about the Woods communications, but he did say that Rory McIlroy understood (and responded).
“Rory has been supportive publicly of my decision and he was privately as well,” Rahm stated in a statement. Since the Spaniard’s departure, McIlroy has made additional compromises for LIV Golf, simply wishing to put this feud to rest and continue competing against the top golfers.
“I was maybe a little judgmental of the guys who went to LIV Golf at the start,” he told Gary Neville on The Overlap. “I think it was a bit of a mistake on my part because I now realize that not everyone is in my position or in Tiger Woods’ position.”
Like Woods, Rahm’s communication with PGA Tour Commissioner Jay Monahan has come to a halt. “I think he’s [too] busy enough to be talking to me,” Rahm went on to say. The $450 million man wants to play on both the LIV Golf and PGA Tour circuits one day, but he’ll most likely need a text back from someone (anyone!) to make that happen.
