We’ve all been in relationships – business, professional, an awkward conversation at a Christmas party – where we just wanted out. By the time I’ve had enough, you’d be willing to give up everything to get out. But would you be willing to give up nine digits income owed to get out of this relationship? Jon Rahm apparently was, and thus he decisively and definitively ended his days as a LIV Golf player and team captain.
Rahm and LIV have reached a separation agreement whereby the reigning LIV Golf individual champion and Legion XIII captain will be free to leave the unique breakaway tour. Just as important: Rahm has waived all claims against LIV for amounts owed in the future, a figure that could total as much as $100 million.
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The separation agreement must be approved by a judge in U.S. Bankruptcy Court on November 5, according to ESPN.
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LIV Golf is currently in an existential battle. The Saudi-backed “Golf But Louder” days of the tour are just a pastel, club-music memory. As it goes bankrupt, LIV attempts to bring together both investors and players for “LIV 2.0”, a tour that would crisscross the planet while giving players the chance to gain unprecedented equity in the company.
Rahm, however, decided to take a different route and burned the boats behind him. “Mr. Rahm independently reviewed the proposed terms of LIV 2.0,” his attorney John Beck said earlier this month, “and determined that those terms were unacceptable to him and that he would no longer participate in LIV 2.0.”
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As part of the separation agreement, Rahm will relinquish any stake in the team formed when he joined LIV three years ago. He will, however, retain the rights to his name, image and likeness, as well as terms such as “Rahmbo” and “Legion XIII”, the name of his team. (He will not be able to use “Legion XIII” in a golf context, such as a TGL team.)
Regardless of the potential value of the team’s equity, LIV still owed Rahm a significant amount of money — more than $7 million, as outlined in bankruptcy documents, with a potential $100 million remaining on his $300 million deal he originally signed with LIV. Rahm was LIV’s largest unsecured creditor in bankruptcy proceedings.
It’s impossible to view Rahm’s stance as anything other than a major blow to LIV’s hopes of a second act. Much of LIV’s appeal rested on the star power of its most notable players, with Rahm – the three-time individual champion – right at the top of that list alongside Bryson DeChambeau. With Rahm gone and DeChambeau still a free agent, LIV’s appeal to investors lured by golf celebrity has dimmed considerably.
For his part, Rahm clearly demonstrates his desire to leave LIV Golf behind. He will likely have to make his way on the PGA Tour as his former LIV colleague Patrick Reed does; PGA Tour CEO Brian Rolapp has not indicated he will again offer the fast track that Rahm declined earlier this year. Rahm is next scheduled to compete in the DP World Tour Abu Dhabi Championship in the first week of November.
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For LIV, these next two weeks will be crucial. The tour attempts to determine whether this venture will continue to be a viable business; LIV’s lawyer, Robert Fitzgerald, indicated this week that the tour would announce by the end of the month whether it would move forward or end altogether.
Either way, LIV’s days with Rahm are over. There were highlights, there were celebrations, there were substantial paydays – but ultimately, there wasn’t enough to keep Rahm around any longer. And he was willing to give up an incredible amount of money to make the separation permanent.
Gn sports
