Jon Rahm Jun 13, 2023; Los Angeles, California, USA; Jon Rahm talks during a press conference for the U.S. Open golf tournament at Los Angeles Country Club. Mandatory Credit: Michael Madrid-USA TODAY Sports

When Jon Rahm decided to bolt to the LIV Golf, it wasn’t a shock to many. It had been rumored that Rahm was planning to leave the PGA Tour and he finally did.

When he left, the PGA Tour suspended him as an active golfer, but did not cancel his membership.

Rahm, along with several former PGA Tour golfers, will be at the PGA Championship this weekend at Valhalla. But when asked about leaving the tour for LIV Golf, Rahm gave a strange answer.

“See you guys keep saying ‘the other side’ but I’m still a PGA Tour member, whether suspended or not,” Rahm said. “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. That’s at least personally.”Even before he decided to jump to LIV Golf, Rahm had tried to be neutral between the two leagues, but when LIV Golf offered him millions to leave, he left.But Rahm admits leaving has been harder than he thought.

“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 earlier this year. “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 may not have given up his PGA membership, but the PGA has suspended him from all PGA Tour-related activities and his name has been erased or scrubbed from several PGA Tour-sanctioned entities, including the tour’s career money earnings list.

{Golf Digest}

About Stacey Mickles

Stacey is a 1995 graduate of the University of Alabama who has previously worked for other publications such as Sportskeeda and Saturday Down South.