Jon Rahm’s LIV exit is a reminder that greed is not good

Michael Bamberger, a columnist for GOLF.com, examines Jon Rahm’s departure from LIV Golf and argues that greed does not serve professional golf.

The column was prompted by actor, golfer, producer and writer Michael Douglas’s memoir, “One Helluva Ride.” Douglas, who plays golf with his wife Catherine Zeta-Jones, became famous for playing Gordon Gekko in “Wall Street” and delivering the line, “Greed is good.”

Bamberger disagrees. In his view, greed is destructive in golf-course decision-making as well as in personal finance, careers and social ambition.

The author connects that idea to Jon Rahm, the Spanish golfer who lives in suburban Phoenix. Rahm was once frequently associated with the phrase “My fealty is to the PGA Tour,” but later moved to LIV Golf. Bamberger estimates that the offer from LIV Golf and its Saudi backers may have been $300 million, $400 million or some other comparable figure.

Bamberger identifies two common reactions to the move. One is that Rahm had to leave for that kind of money because it represented “generational” or “dynastic” wealth. The other is disgust, accompanied by the question: “When is enough enough?” Rahm had already earned about $50 million in PGA Tour prize money over seven seasons. His U.S. Open victory and Ryder Cup record gave him enormous future earning power.

Bamberger writes that Rahm’s professional future is now uncertain and that the golfer is likely speaking daily with lawyers and agents. The author also says he does not believe LIV Golf improved professional tournament golf.

He gives Greg Norman credit for pursuing his dream of creating a world tour, an idea that had been developing for roughly 30 years. But Bamberger argues that LIV failed because of problems with the details, funding, format, its inability to work within golf’s existing ecosystem and its player-selection process.

Bamberger recalls Scottie Scheffler’s view that LIV exists because players said yes, not because Greg Norman made them. Phil Mickelson said yes, and others followed for the money, which Bamberger calls petro-dollars. PGA Tour commissioner Jay Monahan even took a leave of absence because of the psychological pressure.

The author then turns to golf’s traditions. He describes the game’s roots as Scottish, Calvinist, modest and austere, with rules designed to ensure equal treatment for all players. Bamberger contrasts that tradition with the pursuit of wealth by recalling the example of Jack Nicklaus’s longtime instructor, Jack Grout.

In his will, Grout thanked Nicklaus and emphasized that the champion’s power and courage were gifts he possessed from the beginning. Grout acknowledged working hard with Nicklaus: checking his posture and grip, encouraging a powerful swing, monitoring his rhythm, fitting him with equipment and supporting him. But he did not claim primary credit for his pupil’s career and called Nicklaus the finest golfer in the history of the game.

“To you, Jack Nicklaus, I give my thanks,” Grout wrote near the end of his will.

Bamberger concludes that if a person truly has a capacity for gratitude, he understands that greed is not good.