Shane Lowry with message to Jon Rahm about LIV Golf: 'They own you now'
Shane Lowry has a message for Jon Rahm after his Ryder Cup teammate joined LIV Golf.
"They own you now."
Lowry, who lives in Jupiter, doubts the authenticity of LIV golfers talking about growing the game and warns any player who uses the narrative about taking care of their families, according to the Irish Independent.
"I think what Jon said about growing the game and stuff, that’s obviously what they have to say," Lowry, an Irishman, said at a press conference in Dublin to promote next year's Irish Open.
"They’ve signed on the dotted line. They’ve been told by the communications team that this is what you say when you’re asked this and you have no other choice really because they own you now."
Rahm, 29, announced on Fox News three weeks ago he was leaving the PGA Tour for a deal that reportedly is worth more than $550 million, including bonuses. The Spaniard said he has a "duty" to his family "to give them the best opportunities and the most amount of resources possible."
Lowry says that's difficult for people to hear.
"People who have spent their hard-earned money going out to join a golf club and buy golf clubs and play golf for the weekend, it’s tough for them to listen to the guy who’s already worth whatever say he has to do this to put food on the table for his wife and kids,” Lowry said.
Rahm has earned $51.5 million on the PGA Tour and likely more than twice that on other tours and from sponsors.
Lowry and Rahm were part of the European Ryder Cup team that dominated the U.S. three months ago in Rome. Like fellow European Ryder Cup teammate Rory McIlroy, Lowry still wants Rahm on the team in 2025.
More: The US never recovers from horrible first day in losing another Ryder Cup on European soil
Rahm and McIlroy know Europe will need the world's current No. 3 player to successfully defend its title in 2025 at Bethpage Black in New York.
"The reason (Ian Poulter, Sergio Garcia or Lee Westwood) couldn’t play Ryder Cup this year was because they resigned their (DP World Tour) membership. There were certain players that would have been able to make the team if they played good enough, but they just didn’t. I am sure Rahmbo can play well enough to make the team. So if he doesn’t resign his membership, he can still make the team.”
Lowry, though, will not follow in the steps of some PGA Tour members who have ripped Tour leadership, especially commissioner Jay Monahan.
"I make a great living doing what we do, playing the game I love for a living and I’m not going to sit here and criticize the guys in charge of the game because I’m very fortunate to have the life I have," Lowry said. "Do I think they’ve been amazing? No, probably not. But I’m not going to criticize them because I think they couldn’t foresee this coming. It was something that just happened. I don’t really know.
"A lot of players have a lot of opinions on the leadership of the tour. But I don’t consider myself clever enough to be able to comment on running a billion-dollar organization."
This article originally appeared on Palm Beach Post: Shane Lowry to Jon Rahm about joining LIV: 'They own you now'
