MEXICO CITY (AP) 鈥� Jon Rahm says he had no trouble moving forward inside the ropes
鈥淔or me, it didn’t make sense to think about it or waste time thinking about,鈥� Rahm said Thursday after opening with seven birdies in his round of 6-under 65 at LIV Golf Mexico, leaving him three shots behind Victor Perez of France at Chapultepec Golf Club.
鈥淪ince everything happened so suddenly and so quickly, I wasn鈥檛 very worried about it because normally, before the rumors start, we already know something 鈥� there鈥檚 always someone within the league who knows something,鈥� he said. 鈥淚t happened so fast that I really didn鈥檛 worry about it.鈥�
Speculation was running rampant on Wednesday the main source of funding 鈥� Saudi Arabia’s sovereign wealth fund 鈥� was on the verge of drying up. The LIV chief executive, Scott O’Neil, sent a memo to staff the 2026 season would proceed without interruption and at 鈥渇ull throttle.鈥�
Questions remained whether that would last beyond the end of the year.
There was a power outage at the course on Tuesday, fueling speculation about the league’s future. And then the streaming of the first round went out for about two hours.
O’Neil sat down with LIV’s broadcast team and remained bullish about the future.
鈥淕iven the momentum of this business, we鈥檙e really excited about where we are and the position where we are,鈥� O’Neil said.
He said he met with 50 people at the Masters and rolled out a plan that 鈥渕ight surprise people.鈥� LIV Golf has said some of its metrics such as ticket sales and team sponsorships have increased, and O’Neil is projecting 10 of the 13 teams and four of the 14 events will be profitable.
But there is a substantial cost involved with prize funds ($30 million for each tournament) and operations. The newsletter Money in Sport reported in February that LIV Golf already had spent $5.3 billion and was projected to surpass $6 billion by the end of the year.
鈥淭his notion of bringing teams to market, I had two calls this morning,鈥� O’Neil said on the LIV broadcast. 鈥淭his notion of, 鈥楧o you have to raise money?鈥� Probably this is business. But if we keep the trajectory going the way we are and the revenue growth going, this is going to be a really good business for a really long time.鈥�
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