Golf commentator explains his problem with Jon Rahm: "And then it hit me..."
Golf Channel analyst Brandel Chamblee has explained why he is so frustrated with Jon Rahm after the Spaniard joined LIV Golf.
Brandel Chamblee has launched a blistering attack on Jon Rahm.
The Golf Channel analyst hopped on Scott Verplank's podcast to discuss all things golf.
Understandably, the conversation veered towards the PGA Tour's protracted battle with LIV Golf.
Rahm joined the LIV Golf League for the 2024 season last December for a figure understood to be half a billion dollars.
Chamblee put his head above the parapet before Rahm officially put pen to paper with LIV to suggest it wasn't impossible he could reject PIF's millions.
The former PGA Tour pro wrote on X he hoped Rahm's deep knowledge of the history of the game would 'keep him from selling out'.
He also pointed to the fact that Tiger Woods and Rory McIlroy also, allegedly, said no to LIV.
Chamblee was wrong. And he's not happy.
Asked by Verplank about the current state of affairs, Chamblee said: "What's happening to the game of golf is that we're risking alienating the lifelong fan of the game, the core golfer.
"Those are the people that drive the game of golf. They tune in to watch the best players in the world and if they become detached with the best players in the world they're not as likely to tune in.
"I think the game has been irreparably damaged and tilted towards greed. And I don't know if the game will ever be the same, unfortunately."
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Chamblee said the 'custodial' aspect of the game has now gone.
"It's more about a blind greediness [from the players]," added Chamblee. "With no respect for what came before them and no obvious sense of debt to future generations.
"And I think that's palpable and I think the audiences sees that. There's a detachment in the audience with the golfer right now because of that."
Verplank put it to Chamblee that the PGA Tour 'bungled' their battle with LIV.
Chamblee used an analogy to illustrate his point. "I think this is a good one," he said.
"Let's say your Coca Cola and you're competing with Pepsi, and Pepsi decides to give their product away for free.
"You could never anticipate that from a business side.
"If you're the CEO of Coca Cola, you can never anticipate the irrational economic decision of somebody deciding to give away their product for free.
"Or essentially free, or to not care about rational economic principles. You can't compete with that in a free market."
Verplank put it to Chamblee that the 'rational economic decisions' are not what they used to be.
"If you have an endless supply [of money], the rules are different," he said.
Chamblee doubled down. "The game has been irreparably tilted towards greed," he said.
He continued: "Now I'll be explicit here [as] I want people to clearly understand where my dissent with PIF comes from.
"It comes from a couple of different places. The person in charge of PIF is one person - that's MBS - that's one person.
"It's not a committee, it's not a board, it's not a governor. Yasir [Al-Rumayyan] is an extension of MBS. He does what MBS wants him to do.
"My dissent with LIV is that it is an instrument of MBS' to diversify his economy, which he needs to do, but it's also to sportswash his reputation."
Chamblee pointed to his problem with the male guardianship rule in Saudi Arabia and the treatment of homosexuals and dissidents.
"MBS runs PIF, PIF funds LIV, so that is the element that has been brought to the game of golf," Chamblee added.
"That's where my dissent is. Beyond that, and I think this was evident when I saw Jon Rahm playing in his first LIV event.
"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 faustian impact. All of them.
"They've all sold their independent nature. Independent contractors is 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. They're not free to do anything except what Yasir, PIF and MBS demand that they do."
Chamblee then incorrectly stated that Rahm was 'silenced' after he joined LIV.
Rahm reportedly said he wasn't allowed to do any interviews for a while after he joined LIV.
That comment has since been attributed to a misquote from a news agency.
Still, Chamblee blasted: "He's been muzzled. And when they do speak, they're all puppets to a regime they represent.
"That's where my dissent with PIF comes from. Golf has been in this traditional place with a foundation of philanthropy.
"Now it has a foundation of greed."
What do you make of Chamblee's comments? Do you agree?
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