‘I think it’s wrong’: Jon Rahm snipes critics of LIV’s major ‘credibility’

In many ways, Jon Rahm is a living advertisement for LIV Golf’s credibility.

The 30-year-old pro is a two-time major champion. He’s also one of the most gifted players of his generation, equally capable of mowing down a loaded field in a scoring blitz (as he did at the 2021 U.S. Open) as he is at staring down a single heavyweight opponent without blinking (as he did with Brooks Koepka at the 2023 Masters).

But Rahm’s credibility does not extend to his employers. Even today, LIV remains a castoff in professional golf, where its broadcasts are sparsely watched, its tournaments are inconsistently attended and its developments are generally ignored in the public eye. As if to emphasize the point, the league’s players enter yet another season in 2025 without any guaranteed path into the major championships or the Ryder Cup.

This is what brought Rahm to Dubai on Tuesday morning, where he will compete in a DP World Tour-sanctioned event alongside other LIV and PGA Tour pros in part to keep his Ryder Cup eligibility and World Ranking afloat. And it is perhaps why, on Tuesday morning, Rahm spoke out in defense of his home tour.

“I think I’ve expressed my opinions on the World Ranking system before I joined LIV,” Rahm told reporters. “[LIV] told me early on, I think even before I signed in the early conversations, that they were not going to pursue those discussions to the same level because they knew where it was directed.

“I think at this point to not give LIV World Ranking points and the credibility it deserves, I think it is wrong.”

LIV’s OWGR inclusion is still a thorny issue for the league. The World Ranking system rejected LIV’s application in 2023 after the league failed to meet two key criteria for inclusion: player turnover and promotion/relegation. The OWGR decision effectively blocked LIV from major championship eligibility, where spots are guaranteed based on World Ranking position.

Many of the league’s critics argue that Rahm and his LIV teammates are merely facing the consequences of their decisions. Players knew OWGR inclusion was a longshot for LIV when they signed up for the rival league, and in many cases the league priced the risk of OWGR exclusion into inflated signing bonuses and tournament purses. Moreover, the OWGR didn’t reject LIV on personal grounds — it rejected LIV because it could not find a way to distribute points for LIV equitably relative to other major tours. In essence, the OWGR decision was not to discriminate against LIV players; it was to avoid giving LIV’s players an unfair advantage.

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But, as Rahm explained, his defense of LIV’s inclusion is not on the merits of OWGR rules and regulations. His argument is far simpler: If the point of the World Ranking is to capture an accurate picture of the best players in the sport, then LIV deserves a spot. And if the OWGR can’t find a way to include LIV in the ranking, then that’s not a problem with LIV — it’s a problem with the OWGR.

“Listen, I understand we’ve all made a decision and it’s not as easy as it sounds,” Rahm said. “But to say that LIV players don’t deserve some spots in major championships? I think it is wrong and I hope that evolves into what it should be.”

“There should be a way for us to qualify,” he said. “And the World Ranking points need to figure something out because it’s not fair for anybody in that sense.”

Thankfully, Rahm’s major championship future is not in doubt. He has secured major exemptions through the end of the decade thanks to his win at the 2023 Masters. Still, it’s hard to fault him for speaking more broadly about institutional change in pro golf.

As an agreement between the PGA Tour and Saudi PIF looms, sweeping change in professional golf has morphed from a possibility into a near-certainty. How LIV factors into that change remains a mystery, as is the question of long-term major championship eligibility, but even the league’s most ardent detractors agree that golf is better when the sport’s best players are competing together.

Rahm would agree. He is an avid student of golf history — avid enough to know that golf has never seen a time of financial windfall and competitive opportunity like this one. In speaking with the press on Tuesday in Dubai, he called it a “golden era.”

“The possibilities are endless,” he said.

Well, not exactly endless. But you get the point.