{"id":1248681,"date":"2023-12-20T18:24:22","date_gmt":"2023-12-20T18:24:22","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/golftoday.co.uk\/shane-lowry-not-surprised-by-jon-rahms-liv-golf-switch\/"},"modified":"2023-12-21T08:11:29","modified_gmt":"2023-12-21T08:11:29","slug":"shane-lowry-not-surprised-by-jon-rahms-liv-golf-switch","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/golftoday.co.uk\/shane-lowry-not-surprised-by-jon-rahms-liv-golf-switch\/","title":{"rendered":"Shane Lowry not surprised by Jon Rahm\u2019s LIV Golf switch"},"content":{"rendered":"

Shane Lowry is \u201cnot surprised by anything\u201d in golf after Jon Rahm\u2019s move to LIV Golf but remains hopeful the men\u2019s game can unite in the future.<\/p>\n

The start of the Saudi-backed league in 2022 sent shockwaves through the sport, with the likes of Phil Mickelson, Bryson DeChambeau, Brooks Koepka and Sergio Garcia all leaving the PGA Tour to compete in LIV\u2019s 54-hole, limited-field events.<\/p>\n

Rahm had been a staunch supporter of the PGA Tour and while June\u2019s framework agreement between the American circuit, the DP World Tour and Saudi Arabia\u2019s Public Investment Fund \u2013 which bankrolls LIV \u2013 was hoped to bring the game back together, many players were publicly critical of the secretive nature of negotiations which led to the agreement.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

\"Shane
Lowry has shared a team room with Rahm at the last two Ryder Cups (Zac Goodwin\/PA)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

<\/p>\n

Rahm\u2019s move earlier this month was the latest chapter in a tumultuous period for the game and Lowry admits nothing surprises him anymore.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe weren\u2019t too surprised in the end, but I\u2019m not surprised by anything that happens at the minute,\u201d Lowry told reporters at the launch of the Irish Open.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt had been rumoured for a while so there\u2019s no smoke without fire, is there?\u201d<\/p>\n

After his switch, Rahm spoke of his hope that he would be able to continue to play across tours, a hope shared by his European Ryder Cup team-mate from 2021 and September\u2019s 16.6-11.5 win over the United States.<\/p>\n

\u201cHopeful is the word I\u2019d use,\u201d added Lowry.<\/p>\n

\u201cI mean, I\u2019m not involved in anything. I just try to worry about my own thing and get on with my own game.<\/a><\/p>\n

\u201cBut I\u2019d be very hopeful that at some stage in the near future we will be back playing the same tournaments together and I think that\u2019s what the world of golf needs.<\/a>\u201d<\/p>\n