On Thursday, the golf world was hit with some pretty massive news as PGA Tour superstar Jon Rahm announced that he will be joining the Saudi-backed LIV Golf circuit. And while the move itself is huge for the golf community, so is the payout that Rahm will be getting as a result of his move to LIV.
As ESPN reports, the deal offered to Jon Rahm from LIV Golf is worth more than $300 million – far more than he’s made in his entire career combined on the PGA Tour.
“In the end, Rahm, a 29-year-old native of Spain, couldn’t pass up a multiyear contract that is worth more than $300 million, according to sources, and includes partial ownership of his new LIV Golf team. Sources told ESPN that LIV Golf is recruiting other PGA Tour players to join Rahm’s team; he declined to name whom they might be,” Mark Schlabach of ESPN reported on Thursday.
Obviously, it’s an absolutely insane amount of money from LIV Golf, and the golf world had a lot to say about it on social media as a result.
Jon Rahm earned $16.5M in 2023 on the PGA Tour, stemming from 4 wins, 2 2nd place finishes, & a third place finish.
He's earned $77.2M in his career since 2016.
Now he'll accept a pact with the LIV Tour that pays out between $500M-$600M, which seems like a decent pay raise.
— Spotrac (@spotrac) December 7, 2023
Telegraph and the WSJ are both reporting that Jon Rahm will be joining LIV Golf as early as this week.
The reigning masters champion would get over $500 million — more than the entire 2023 PGA Tour prize pool.
That's a huge blow to the PGA Tour, especially with their December… pic.twitter.com/DWVG3gLD42
— Joe Pompliano (@JoePompliano) December 7, 2023
Jon Rahm has secured the bag 💰
His reported $500M contract is more than the prize pool for the entire PGA Tour. pic.twitter.com/pEDMfEMFf8
— Covers (@Covers) December 7, 2023
If Jon Rahm was to stay on the PGA Tour and win every tournament he plays in for multiple years in a row, he'd still make less per year than his reported LIV contract will be worth per/yr. This doesn't even factor the added team win and other BS perks they will throw on top.
— Martin McSports (@MartinMcSports) December 7, 2023
Jon Rahm is set to earn at least 6x more in his deal with LIV Golf than he's earned in his entire career on the PGA Tour.https://t.co/nAFSfGXBXN pic.twitter.com/ohA57n7qvF
— Front Office Sports (@FOS) December 7, 2023
People out here mad at Jon Rahm like they wouldn’t take the money too 🤣🤣🤣
— Calum Nicholas (@F1mech) December 8, 2023
It’s a somewhat shocking move from Rahm considering how committed he was to the PGA Tour, but given that payout, it makes sense.
