Brandel Chamblee sounds off on Jon Rahm over comments on his LIV Golf move - “It wasn’t the tipping point at all”

Jon Rahm recently admitted that he is optimistic about the PGA Tour-LIV Golf deal. Interestingly, the reigning Masters champion claimed that his big-money move to the Saudi-backed series even acted as a ‘tipping point’ for the negotiation. Golf Channel’s Brandel Chamblee has now slammed Rahm for the comments.

The World No.3 golfer claimed that not many players had a ‘bigger impact’ than him in the last year and added that his move sped up the PGA-PIF deal. Sounding off on the ace golfer, Chamblee rubbished the claim. The veteran analyst stated that Rahm went from “being viewed as his own man to being somebody that could be bought.”

Chamblee called out the Spaniard for taking the big-money deal to join LIV Golf and said that his move wasn’t “the tipping point at all.”

Speaking about Jon Rahm and his comments, Brandel Chamblee said on Live at The Masters:

“Jon Rahm thought his departure was going to be the tipping point. It wasn’t the tipping point at all, but generally speaking, I think that he went from being viewed as his own man to being somebody that could be bought. He went from being viewed as somebody who would state their principle very clearly of history and legacy, and then turns back on those principles for money and finances.

The thread that runs through every single aspect of life, and none of us can really say who held the money that we have in our hands before we did, but when you know exactly who is paying you and exactly what they’re paying you for and at its core is malevolent in nature, you can’t pretend that the impulse to take the money is good when it was so heavily fertilized in greed.”

It is pertinent to note that this isn’t the first time Chamblee has blasted Rahm over his LIV Golf move. Following the ace golfer’s move to the Saudi-backed series in December last year, the golf analyst openly criticized it. He said that the Spaniard “sold his career out.”

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Jon Rahm backs the proposed PGA Tour-LIV Golf deal

Jon Rahm, who defected from the American circuit to join LIV Golf in December, said the proposed merger deal is closer than ever. Speaking to BBC Sport ahead of the Masters on Monday, the ace golfer stated he is optimistic about the move. He said there are “definitely some discussions that haven’t been there in the past” between the two sides.

Rahm noted that the two circuits are “closer to some kind of unification than ever.” It is pertinent to note that the 11-time PGA Tour winner’s comment come just weeks after PGA commissioner Jay Monahan and PGA policy board members, including Tiger Woods, met with Saudi Arabia's Public Investment Fund governor Yasir Al-Rumayyan.

As of now, the two sides remain independent and LIV players like Rahm are still banned from PGA events.