Jon Rahm accused of ‘turning his back’ on legacy as LIV Golf star prepares for Masters defence

Masters champion Jon Rahm is facing further criticism for switching to LIV Golf following comments made at Augusta National ahead of his title defence this week

LIV Golf critic Brandel Chamblee has hit out at Jon Rahm again after fresh comments from the Masters champion about his move to the breakaway tour.

Rahm, 29, is back at Augusta National a year after receiving the Green Jacket for the first time and four months removed from being suspended by the PGA Tour for joining LIV Golf. The former world number one signed a deal reportedly worth £450 million with the league, which Saudi Arabia ‘s sovereign wealth fund finances.

The Masters will be the first time Rahm faces many of the world’s best players since the DP World Tour Championship in mid-November. He is one of 13 players from the LIV tour in Augusta ahead of the tournament.

But due to the hypocrisy and relative recency of his switch, alongside his status as the reigning champion, the spotlight is squarely on the Spaniard this week. And so Rahm’s suggestion in an interview with the BBC that his departure “could be the start of a tipping point” in favour of LIV has proved controversial.

Golf Channel pundit Chamblee certainly saw the comments that way. “He thought his departure was going to be the tipping point. It wasn’t the tipping point at all,” Chamblee remarked on NBC ‘s coverage.

“Generally speaking, I think he went from being viewed as his own man to being somebody that could be bought. He went from being viewed as somebody who would state their principles very clearly of history and legacy (to someone) who turns his back on those principles for money and finances.”

Chamblee continued: “The thread that runs through every single aspect of life, and none of us can really say who held the money that we have in our hands before we did. But when you know exactly who is paying you and exactly what they’re paying you for and at its core is malevolent in nature, you can’t pretend that the impulse to take the money is good when it was so heavily fertilised in greed.”

The pundit has previously called out Rahm over the move, most recently earlier this year on Scott Verplank ‘s podcast. “This guy went from essentially having a lead role in The Godfather to now being a sideshow vaudeville act,” he explained.

“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 are what they were referred to when playing the PGA Tour. 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 acknowledged to the BBC that he is aware of the sceptics. “I see everybody’s scepticism,” Rahm said. “I get it. I’ve been there; I voiced it to more people than most people would probably speak to.”