Jon Rahm says PGA Tour players feel 'betrayal over bombshell merger'

Masters champion Jon Rahm reckons it has created a feeling of “betrayal”. Matt Fitzpatrick, this week’s defending US Open champion, is “confused” by it. And Cam Smith, the current Open champion, thought it was a “joke”.

Jon Rahm speaks during a press conference prior to the 123rd US Open at The Los Angeles Country Club. Picture: Ross Kinnaird/Getty Images.

They were all referring, of course, to golf’s big talking point, namely last week’s shock announcement of a commercial merger between the PGA Tour, DP World Tour and Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund.

Taken purely at face value, the move appears to have ended golf’s year-long civil war, but it’s going to be a while before the dust settles and lots of key questions have still to be answered.

Will LIV Golf continue in its current format? Will Greg Norman still have a role to play? Will players who turned down huge offers to join LIV Golf be suitably compensated for showing to the PGA Tour?

Defending champion Matthew Fitzpatrick speaks at a press conference prior to the 123rd US Open at The Los Angeles Country Club. Picture: Andrew Redington/Getty Images.

Speaking at Los Angeles Country Club on Tuesday in the build up to this week’s US Open, Rahm said: “Well, there's a lot of not-answered questions. I think it gets to a point where you want to have faith in management, and I want to have faith that this is the best thing for all of us, but it's clear that that's not the consensus.

“I think the general feeling is that a lot of people feel a bit of betrayal from management. I understand why they had to keep it so secret. I understand we couldn't make it through a PAC meeting with more than 10 minutes after people spilling the beans right away in some article by you guys already being out there. So I get it. I get the secrecy.

“It's just not easy as a player that's been involved, like many others, to wake up one day and see this bombshell. That's why we're all in a bit of a state of limbo because we don't know what's going on and how much is finalised and how much they can talk about, either.

“It's a state of uncertainty that we don't love, but, at the end of the day, I'm not a business expert. Some of those guys on the board and involved in this are. So I'd like to think they're going to make a better decision than I would, but I don't know. We'll see. There's still too many questions to be answered.”

Along with almost everyone else, last Tuesday’s announcement came out of the blue for Rahm. “I was at home taking care of the kids. I was just having my normal morning making coffee and breakfast, and basically texts just started flowing in,” said the 2010 US Open champion. “I thought my phone was going to catch on fire at one point. There were so many questions that I just couldn't answer. It's basically what it was. At one point I told (wife) Kelley I'm just going to throw my phone in the drawer and not look at it for the next four hours because I can't deal with this anymore.”

Speaking in his defending champion’s press conference in California, where the season’s third major gets underway on Thursday, Fitzpatrick swerved the question about possible compensation for PGA Tour players but admitted: “I guess the whole thing is confusing. It was confusing last year.

“I don’t think anyone knows what’s going on. Are we signing with the PIF? Are we not signing with the PIF? I have no idea. Even though I guess it is confusing, it’s pretty clear that nobody knows what’s going on apart from about four people in the world.”

That was reference to the deal having been brokered by PGA Tour commissioner Jay Monhahan, two of his board members and the Public Investment Fund chief, His Excellency

Yasir Al-Rumayyan.

“I guess the first reaction was I thought it was kind of a joke that had come out, and then HE (Al-Rumayyan) gave me a call,” said Smith as the Australian also spoke in California about the stunning twist in the tale.

“He didn't really explain too much. I think there's still a lot of stuff to be worked out, and as time goes on, we'll get to know more and more. But there's definitely a lot of curious players, I think, on both sides as to what the future is going to look like.”

Monahan has been accused of being a “hypocrite” for discouraging PGA Tour players, including Rory McIlroy and Jon Rahm, from joining LIV but now jumping into bed with the people directly funding the rival circuit.

“I'm very happy with where I'm at,” said Smith, whose proposed switch to LIV Golf emerged straight after he’d produced a brilliant closing 64 on the Old Course to win the 150th Open at St Andrews last summer. “I obviously made that decision for a few different reasons.

“It's too early to say, I think, with what's going to go on here. I know as much as everyone else, and it's going to be interesting to see how the next few months, maybe even years, kind of plays out.”

It seems that Rory McIlroy, who spoke about it in Canada, has decided to skip any merger talk in the build up to this week’s event as he is no longer scheduled for a press conference.

“I think it's overrated,” insisted Fitzpatrick of the merger possibly being a distraction this week. “I think you're not going to be stood on the first tee thinking, ‘oh what's going on in the golf world’. You're thinking, ‘it's a par-4, where do I need to hit it, where is the wind’. That's all you're thinking about.”