Thomas Bjorn details “surprise” over Jon Rahm LIV switch

Thomas Bjorn doesn’t blame Jon Rahm for joining LIV Golf. 

The Masters champion is the most talked about man in the sport right now after completing a seismic £450million move to the Saudi-funded league last week.

Rahm’s decision to stop chasing what he described as “history and legacy” on the PGA Tour to sign for the Greg Norman-fronted start-up marked a huge U-turn on his outlook of his career.

Norman, the league’s CEO and commissioner, has claimed Rahm’s signature will create a domino effect with “8-12” players now interested in following the Spaniard to LIV.

And Bjorn, who was Ryder Cup vice-captain this year as Rahm went unbeaten for Team Europe in Rome, insists that its not the players who are driving these eye-watering sums being injected into the game.

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“I don’t see it as greed,” the Dane told bunkered.co.uk. “I don’t think the players are greedy. It’s difficult to fathom the money that’s in the game. But you can’t blame anyone for that. If somebody is willing to pay that kind of money for the players, that’s their right to take it. Nobody has any right to say anything about what they do.”

That’s not to say, however, that Bjorn wasn’t taken aback by Rahm’s decision.

The 29-year-old has been widely accused of hypocrisy after claiming last year that LIV’s 54-hole events with shotgun starts and no cut were ‘not golf tournaments’ and didn’t appeal to him.

“I was surprised,” Bjorn said when asked his first reaction to Rahm’s move. “Most people were on the back of his own statements. But to hold people to statements as we seem to be doing for everyone, it’s a little bit harsh.

“I always thought Jon has a close relationship with people who are on LIV. He’s very close with Sergio [Garcia], he has a close personal relationship with Phil [Mickelson].

“It surprised me he did it now but it didn’t surprise me that it was something that would attract him to do. People do what they feel is right. No matter what we say, the money will always be an attraction when you’re talking those kinds of numbers. Why wouldn’t they be?”

Rahm has since admitted the money on offer was ‘very, very nice’ and an important aspect, but not the only factor that led to his defection from the US circuit, where he had made over $51million in prize money.

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He also conceded that jeopardising his Ryder Cup future was a “big risk” to take, with his eligibility at Bethpage Black in the 2025 match now in doubt.

“In the end you have to make a decision for what is right for your whole golf and what you want to do, [not] what happens every two years,” Bjorn said.

“I think Jon is very much in the hope that the rules will be changed and that he can participate. I captained him in Paris and I was in Rome and I know how much it means to him. That is not in any way shape or form fake. That is real.

“Rules are there to be adapted over time for whatever the situation is. If all these conversations go in the right direction and find the right place, surely you will adapt the rules to what is fitting of what the outcome is.”

Rory McIlroy has called for the DP World Tour to change its Ryder Cup qualification process to ensure Rahm will be competing for Europe in two years’ time.

“Because of this decision, the European Tour is going to have to rewrite the rules for Ryder Cup eligibility,” McIlroy told Sky Sports. “There’s absolutely no question about that – I certainly want Jon Rahm on the next Ryder Cup team.”

Rahm intends to maintain his membership of the European circuit, but his route to automatic qualification for New York would likely be determined by his performances in the majors due to his LIV tournament commitments.

Asked whether he agreed with McIlroy on a rule change to accommodate Rahm, Bjorn said: “Ryder Cup Europe looks at the rules every single time. Rules and regulations for participating in the Ryder Cup are looked at in between every Ryder Cup. That’s not a new thing.

“They will look at that and take information from all sorts of people and ideas and they will come up with what they think is the right way to go forward. I don’t think that that’s a place for the players to get involved and certainly not publicly. I think Jon will accept whatever the rules are, but he’s in the hope that they’ll be changed.

“I hope that the broader game is brought into the right place so we don’t have these discussions about who can play and who can’t play in the Ryder Cup.”

Thomas Bjorn was speaking in association with BettingSites.co.uk.

Ben Parsons joined bunkered as a Content Producer in 2023 and is the man to come to for all of the latest news, across both the professional and amateur games. Formerly of The Mirror and Press Association, he is a member at Halifax Golf Club and is a long-suffering fan of both Manchester United and the Wales rugby team.