05 March 2024 , 20:21
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Pundit Brandel Chamblee has accused Jon Rahm of selling his soul to join LIV Golf, relegating himself to a "sideshow vaudeville act" in the sport.
The NBC broadcaster says two-time major champion Rahm and his LIV Golf colleagues have signed a "Faustian pact", giving up independence as a member of the PGA Tour in return for Saudi Arabian riches. The Spaniard signed a contract in the region of £400million with the breakaway tour in December, becoming LIV's most high-profile capture since it formed in 2022.
The league is bankrolled by the Saudi Arabian Public Investment Fund (PIF), and signed players including Phil Mickelson, Dustin Johnson and Brooks Koepka to massive deals, with the bonus of huge prize funds on offer at its events. Chamblee has become an increasingly divisive figure in the debate over LIV's place in the golf ecosystem and has frequently slammed the tour and its players for the damage he feels they have caused the sport.
Chamblee, 61, believes Rahm has lost his status as one of golf's superpowers since turning his back on the PGA Tour, instead becoming part of a "vaudeville act" – a farcical stage show popular in the United States in the late 1800s and early 1900s.
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Speaking to former PGA Tour star Scott Verplank on his podcast, Chamblee thinks Rahm knows he has sold out. The outspoken broadcaster said: “The music was blaring, he had shorts on, and he was getting pretty pissy about somebody taking a picture of him in the middle of his swing.
“And it just hit me. It just hit me…. and I thought, this guy went from essentially having a lead role in The Godfather to now being a sideshow vaudeville act.
“And all these players, it seems to me, realise that they’ve all made a Faustian pact. All of them. They’ve all sold their independent nature. Independent contractors is what they were referred to when playing the PGA Tour.
Rahm has not hidden from the fact that a primary motivation for him joining LIV was financial (Getty Images)“When they were independent they could go wherever they wanted, play any tour they wanted, play at any time they wanted, were free to skip any event they wanted and they were pretty much able to say and do anything they wanted. But now, they’re not.”
Rahm made his LIV debut last month in Mexico and he has finished third, eighth and fifth in three appearances so far. The reigning Masters champion had previously insisted he would remain with the PGA Tour and was not interested in joining LIV.
But his stunning move to the breakaway tour in December was a seismic moment in the battle between the rival competitions, striking a huge blow to the PGA Tour and sparking fears of an exodus of players joining LIV in the coming months.
Rahm explained his decision last month. "I don't want to skip through this point cause there's no point, there's a big change in the way the golfers get compensated. I'd be lying if it wasn't a big part of it," he said. "In a nutshell, I'm getting paid more to play the same sport and have more time. I don't know about most people but that sounds good to me."
Rahm added that the framework agreement between the PGA Tour and PIF that will see the entities work together, which was announced last summer but is yet to be completed, was also part of his decision to join LIV.