Jon Rahm Would Like to See More Holes in LIV Golf

If you’ve been aware of LIV Golf without going all in on its competitions, you might not have noticed the abundance of the number 54 within the circuit. Golfers play 54 holes at tour events; this year’s tour will also include 54 players. And in 2022, the tour promised to give anyone who shot 54 a $54 million bonus. If you’re familiar with Roman numerals, you can probably figure out why: LIV is, in fact, the number 54 spelled out in Roman numerals.

Could LIV Golf become LXXII Golf? (Pronounced “Lexy,” I guess?) Probably not — but one of the tour’s highest-profile players, Jon Rahm, has called for LIV Golf to adopt a 72-hole format, which would bring it in line with the PGA Tour.

Rahm feels that the two tours having an equal number of holes could help settle disputes over which is the superior competition. “The closer I think we can get LIV Golf to some other things the better,” he told the BBC. “I think it would be for some kind of unification to feed into a world tour or something like that.”

He also stated that “it would help all of this argument a lot” if LIV Golf shifted to a 72-hole format.

Just how LIV Golf and the PGA Tour compare has been at the center of several debates within the sport — including LIV Golf’s attempts to become certified by Official World Golf Ranking. As Golfweek reported last month, LIV recently withdrew its application for OWGR certification, and players on the LIV tour have seen their rankings drop, some by significant amounts.

Rory McIlroy Doesn’t Seem to “Hate” LIV Golf So Much Anymore

He didn’t even rule out a jump to the PGA Tour’s rival league in a recent press conference

Rahm could be making this argument for the broader good of the sport, or he might have his own place in the golf rankings in mind. (Or it could be a combination of the two.) What’s less clear is whether or not he has the ear of the powers that be at LIV Golf — or how willing they are to make one of their marquee signings happy.