The world of professional golf has been in an awkward place ever since the inception of the Saudi-backed LIV Golf professional golf league in 2022.
The league has poached several golfers from the PGA Tour by offering hundreds of millions of dollars, and on Dec. 7, Masters champion Jon Rahm officially announced that he was signing with the tour.
The price for Rahm? Over $300 million, according to a report by ESPN. That's about six times more than the $51 million in career earnings of Rahm since he turned pro in 2015.
That's significantly more than the $200 million LIV Golf reportedly paid legend Phil Mickelson and the $125 million it paid former PGA Tour top talent Dustin Johnson.
Related: PGA Tour and Saudi Golf Proposed LIV Golf Ownership for Tiger Woods and Rory McIlroy
Rahm's win at The Masters earlier this year also ensures that he will be eligible to play at the game's most prestigious tournament even while signed with LIV Golf while the PGA Tour and Saudi PIF sort out the for-profit entity they are trying to build.
But Rahm's decision has turned many members of the golf world sour, including two-time PGA Tour winner MacKenzie Hughes, who let his thoughts be known in thread on X, formerly Twitter.
"Men's professional golf is in a sad place. The direction it's headed right now isn't healthy or good for the sport," Hughes began his thread posted on the morning of Dec. 8.
Men’s professional golf is in a sad place. The direction it's headed right now isn't healthy or good for the sport.
— Mackenzie Hughes (@MacHughesGolf) December 8, 2023
And I know many of you are upset with the recent developments - I would be too.
I had some thoughts I wanted to share 🧵
Hughes, who is currently ranked No. 66 in the world, continued in a five-tweet thread that he "dreamed of playing on the PGA Tour" when he was younger, thought it was "amazing" when he first joined, and still considered it an "incredible place to work" despite the issues of the past few years.
Related: Three PGA Tour Golf Stars Want to Buy This $200 Million Dollar Sports Club
But it seems he believes that things are really going down hill now, and he pointed the finger at LIV Golf.
"Unfortunately, money has changed things," Hughes wrote. "Charity used to be a huge priority on tour, but it's taken a backseat. LIV has overvalued the worth of golfers so much that is has ruined our perspective, and pushed purses to unsustainable levels. The marketplace seems broken."
Unfortunately, money has changed things. Charity used to be a huge priority on tour, but it's taken a backseat. LIV has overvalued the worth of golfers so much that it has ruined our perspective, and pushed purses to unsustainable levels. The marketplace seems broken.
— Mackenzie Hughes (@MacHughesGolf) December 8, 2023
He then zoomed out and looked at the perspective of fans, saying it must be "frustrating to watch" due to the division of the game's best into different leagues.
But Hughes ended with some optimism for the PGA Tour, despite not providing any solution outside of hope that those pulling the strings would make a difference.
"We need to find a way to resonate with all of you and lead the PGA Tour back to higher ground," Hughes wrote. "Hopefully, our leadership can make that happen. The uncertainty has been really difficult for us but I remain hopeful."
We need to find a way to resonate with all of you and lead the PGA Tour back to higher ground.
— Mackenzie Hughes (@MacHughesGolf) December 8, 2023
Hopefully, our leadership can make that happen.
The uncertainty has been really difficult for us but I remain hopeful.
PGA Tour commissioner Jay Monahan said that he would be meeting with PIF governor Yasir Al-Rumyyan this week with the hope of ironing out more details of the next steps of the for-profit entity. There's been no report yet about that intended meeting.
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