The top three players in the Official World Golf Ranking have no intentions of joining the Premier Golf League.
Following world No. 1 Rory McIlroy and No. 3 Brooks Koepka, No. 2 Jon Rahm added his name to the list of players who said they won’t be part of the proposed team golf concept, telling Golfweek on Sunday that he’s committed to the PGA Tour.
“I think what I’m going to do is focus on just the PGA Tour,” Rahm said. “At the end of the day I’m a competitor, I’m a PGA Tour member and I’m going to stay that way.”
McIlroy was the first high-profile player to speak out against the PGL, which has aspirations of a league with 48 competitors, 18 events and $10 million purses. He doubled down on his comments two weeks ago at Bay Hill.
“I didn’t really like where the money was coming from either, and I wanted to be the first one to speak out against it, and I’m glad that I have,” McIlroy said.
Koepka told the Associated Press earlier Friday that he was out, too.
“I’m going with the PGA Tour,” Koepka said. “I have a hard time believing golf should be about just 48 players.”
The 25-year-old Rahm now gives the PGA Tour three of the biggest backers in professional golf and delivers the PGL another blow.
“I’m a young player. The PGA Tour has been doing things extremely well,” Rahm said. “Hopefully I have a long career ahead on the PGA Tour. The PGA Tour has done such a great job with what we have and I’m really thankful for what they’ve done.”
Editor’s note: two-time Masters champion Bubba Watson declared his loyalty to the PGA Tour as well on Sunday evening:
Like @BKoepka @McIlroyRory my loyalty is with the @PGATOUR. The way Jay Monahan and the Tour have handled the current situation makes me proud to be a member! One of many reasons I want to play on this Tour for the rest of my career #PGATour #ProudMember https://t.co/ieekS5WWUj
— bubba watson (@bubbawatson) March 16, 2020