Jon Rahm: Tiger Woods Hasn’t Responded to My Texts About Leaving PGA Tour for LIV

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Jon Rahm’s controversial decision to jump ship from the PGA Tour to LIV Golf may have been enough to get Tiger Woods to cut off communication with him.

In an interview with ESPN’s Marty Smith (starts at 4:00 mark), Rahm said Woods hasn’t responded to any texts or messages from him and his people about trying to explain why he decided to make the move.

Prior to LIV’s first season in 2022, Rahm publicly declared his “fealty to the PGA Tour” and said making a move wasn’t something he felt would be in his best interest:

“I’m a PAC member, and I have a lot of belief in (commissioner) Jay Monahan and the product that they’re going to give us in the future. There has been a lot of talk and speculation about the Saudi league. It’s just not something I believe is the best for me and my future in golf, and I think the best legacy I can accomplish will be with the PGA Tour.”

Things apparently changed over the next 21 months when Rahm signed a deal with LIV Golf last December. Official terms of the deal weren’t made public, but ESPN’s Mark Schlabach noted it was worth more than $300 million.

Rahm’s decision came at a time when LIV and the PGA Tour were negotiating terms of a merger between the two entities that was first announced last summer. Those talks remain ongoing, with the PGA Tour receiving a $3 billion investment from a new for-profit entity called PGA Tour Enterprises in January.

Woods’ only public comments about Rahm signing with LIV came in December after he wrapped up a round at the PNC Championship, though he didn’t really have much to say about it.

“Well, there’s been a lot of talk over the years of certain players going, and it was speculation until it happened because there’s been rumors of names going and not going, and whether they materialized or not …” he said. “So we assumed it was just speculation until it happened.”

Woods explained he was “frustrated” by the LIV-PGA Tour merger happening in the way it did without any involvement from the players.

Rahm made his LIV debut earlier this month at the LIV Golf Invitational Mayakoba. He most recently finished tied for third at the event in Las Vegas during Super Bowl weekend.