Five Events Into His LIV Golf Career And Jon Rahm Is Already Calling For Tournaments To Be 72 Holes

Well, that didn't take long. Less than six months into his tenure with LIV Golf, Jon Rahm is already calling for a major change to the Saudi-backed circuit.

Rahm announced his decision to join LIV back in December for a reported deal worth north of $300 million. He was well aware that each LIV event consisted of 54-hole, no cut tournaments, but is already clamoring for events to move to 72 holes.

Other than LIV Golf being solely backed by the Saudi Arabia Public Investment Fund (PIF), the biggest complaint fans and media members alike have had since its inception is the tournament format. With events being just 54 holes and featuring no cut - which equals guaranteed paydays for every player in the field - LIV has failed to gain Official World Golf Ranking (OWGR) points. On top of that, the major format difference between LIV and the PGA Tour has only contributed to the sizable divide that's continued to grow in professional golf.

According to Rahm, moving LIV events to 72 holes would potentially be a change for the better on that front.

"If there ever was a way where LIV could go to 72 holes, I think it would help all of this argument a lot," Rahm told the BBC. "The closer I think we can get LIV Golf to some other things the better. I think it would be for some kind of unification to feed into a world tour or something like that.

"I don't know if I'm alone in this, but I definitely wouldn't mind going back to 72 holes."

(IMAGN/USA TODAY)

Jon Rahm May Be Alone

Many players, including Rahm himself, have attributed LIV's current 54-hole format as a selling point as to why they chose to join the circuit in the first place.

Some players were intrigued by the very simple concept of playing less golf for more money, and it's safe to say that not every LIV player would be on board with another 18 holes behind added to the mix.

Rahm did not mention the addition of a cut on top of his proposal for tournaments be made 72 holes, but all are more than aware that would be a step in the right direction for the LIV naysayers to potentially get on board. 

Switching to 72 holes and adding a cut, however, would take LIV from being a different product than the PGA Tour to an identical copy that simply has a team aspect and more money at stake.