LIV Golf champion takes aim at Jon Rahm’s reasoning behind £450 million Saudi switch

borealit January 3, 2024

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A number of LIV Golf’s biggest names have claimed the breakaway league is ‘growing the game’, but 2023 champion Talor Gooch is not convinced with the slogan.

LIV Golf champion Talor Gooch has claimed he ‘hates’ the use of the breakaway league’s unofficial slogan ‘growing the game’. Since forming last summer a number of big names affiliated with the LIV setup have been quick to use the term when discussing the progress of the Saudi-backed series.

Gooch however is less than convinced, and believes the term has been misused. I hate the old adage ‘growing the game’,” he told LIV Golf’s Fairway to Heaven Podcast. “It has been out in ways it shouldn’t really be used.”

The latest to tow the growing game line is Jon Rahm, after the Spaniard became the latest big name to join the breakaway circuit. Rahm wrote himself into the history books, signing a reported £450 million with LIV earlier this month.

Unsurprisingly, Spaniard did admit the eye-watering offer played a role in his decision to leave the PGA Tour for the Saudi-backed series. He did however admit the chance to grow the game of golf in his native Spain and across the world.

“I think the innovation and the vision of LIV Golf is what pushed me over to at least give it a chance and hear the pitch out,” Rahm said. “I believe in the growth of the game of golf. I have largely spoken about how Seve [Ballesteros] improved the game of golf in Spain.

“I would also like to do the same thing over there, and if I can reach a bigger audience that would be amazing and I do believe this process [joining LIV Golf] will help me do that.” Gooch himself became one of the original defectors to join LIV ahead of its first ever event at Centurion last June.

After five years on the PGA Tour Gooch opted to follow in the footsteps of the likes of Phil Mickelson and Dustin Johnson in making the Saudi switch, and it is a move that has reaped reward. In 2023 the American made an eye-watering £28.3 million on his way to the LIV title.