LOS ANGELES: Spanish star Jon Rahm is poised to join LIV Golf in a deal worth hundreds of millions of dollars, multiple US media outlets reported on Thursday.
The 29-year-old two-time major champion, who had previously pledged his loyalty to the PGA Tour during golf’s bitter civil war, could sign for the Saudi-backed circuit by the end of this week, reports said.
The Wall Street Journal, Sports Illustrated and ESPN all reported on Thursday that the reigning Masters champion was finalizing a deal to quit the PGA Tour for LIV.
Rahm’s representatives have not commented on the reported deal, which reports have said could be worth between $300 million and $600 million to the Spaniard.
If Rahm’s defection to LIV is confirmed, he would become one of the biggest stars to join LIV, the upstart circuit whose emergence has upended the golfing world over the past two years.
The looming capture of Rahm comes as the PGA Tour and the Saudi backers of LIV Golf attempt to finalize the details of their bombshell merger announced in June.
A deadline of December 31 has been set to agree a framework for the new PGA-LIV joint venture.
The Journal speculated Rahm’s signing could either be a tactic by LIV’s backers to force the PGA Tour to conclude a deal by the agreed deadline, or a move to give fresh impetus to the rival circuit in 2024 if the proposed joint tie-up collapses.
The possibility of Rahm jumping ship to LIV had once seemed unthinkable.
While LIV successfully recruited major winners such as Brooks Koepka, Phil Mickelson, Dustin Johnson, Bryson DeChambeau and Cameron Smith, Rahm had been one of the most staunch PGA loyalists, repeatedly stating that the riches offered by LIV held no appeal when balanced against the tradition of the PGA Tour.
“I laugh when people rumor me with LIV. I’ve never liked the format,” Rahm said earlier this year.
Last year, Rahm said he had discussed the possibility of a move with his wife Kelley and decided to remain firmly in the PGA Tour camp.
“Money is great, but when Kelly and I started talking about it, we’re like, ‘Would our lifestyle change if we got $400 million?’ No,” Rahm said.
“It would not change one bit. Truth be told, I could retire right now and I could live a very happy life and not play golf again.
“I’ve never really played the game of golf for monetary reasons. I play for the love of the game, and I want to play against the best in the world.”
In February last year, Rahm had given a categorical assurance he would remain with the PGA Tour.
“This is my official, my one and only time I’ll talk about this, where I am officially declaring my fealty to the PGA Tour,” Rahm said.
“There has been a lot of talk and speculation about the Saudi league. It’s just not something I believe is the best for me and my future in golf, and I think the best legacy I can accomplish will be with the PGA Tour.”
Spanish ace Rahm poised to join LIV Golf: Reports
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Spanish ace Rahm poised to join LIV Golf: Reports
- Multiple US media outlets reported on Thursday Major winner set to make the switch
Raphinha’s evolution into a more versatile scorer is a big part of Flick’s great start at Barcelona
BARCELONA: Raphinha knew he would have a hard time getting off Barcelona’s bench with the soccer world enthralled by teen phenom Lamine Yamal and the club eyeing to sign another hot prospect in the attack.
Instead of pouting, he evolved.
While the entire Barcelona team improved under new coach Hansi Flick, no player has made such a leap forward this season as Raphinha.
His 12 goals and team-leading 10 assists across all competitions are a big part of why Barcelona is playing its best soccer since the exit of Lionel Messi more than three years ago.
But if one player looked to be on the out when the season started, it was the Brazil forward.
Raphinha seemed destined to become a second-choice right-side winger after 17-year-old Yamal helped Spain win the European Championship in dazzling style. To make matters worse, the club was heavily linked to a possible transfer bid to pry Spain left-side winger Nico Williams away from Athletic Bilbao.
That move never materialized for Williams, but Raphinha was still left with either playing in a new position or being a backup to Yamal.
And when Flick gave him the chance to have a new role, he made the most of it.
England gives call-up to more new faces in final squad before Thomas Tuchel takes over
LONDON: Southampton defender Taylor Harwood-Bellis and Newcastle left-back Lewis Hall were called up to the England squad for the first time on Thursday as interim coach Lee Carsley made his final selection before Thomas Tuchel takes charge.
Tuchel does not start until January after being hired to lead the national team’s bid to win the 2026 World Cup.
Carsley will oversee England’s final Nations League games against Greece and Ireland and has continued to look toward a new generation of players, having already handed debuts to Angel Gomes, Morgan Gibbs-White and Noni Madueke since taking over on a temporary basis from Gareth Southgate in August.
Carsley said had not discussed his selection with Tuchel.
“He hasn’t had any influence on the squad selection. I’ve spoken to him by text, but it’s literally congratulations,” he said. “I think he’s highly respectful of the job that not only myself, but the staff are doing.
“We’ve been left to it, like we always have.”
England plays Greece in Athens on Nov. 14 and Ireland at Wembley on Nov. 17.
Carsley will resume his role as England Under-21 coach after those games.
Man City seek to end mini-slump as Liverpool soar
- Pep Guardiola’s Manchester City have become so accustomed to success that three straight defeats feels like a major crisis
- Ruud van Nistelrooy takes charge of his final game as interim manager of Manchester United and winless Wolves play fellow strugglers Southampton
LONDON: Injury-hit Manchester City are desperate to snap their losing streak in their final Premier League game before the international break as Chelsea aim to deepen Arsenal’s misery.
Elsewhere in the English top flight, Ruud van Nistelrooy takes charge of his final game as interim manager of Manchester United and winless Wolves play fellow strugglers Southampton.
Here are some of the key talking points ahead of the action this weekend.
Pep Guardiola’s Manchester City have become so accustomed to success that three straight defeats feels like a major crisis.
Last week City, who face Brighton on Saturday, were ousted from the League Cup by Tottenham.
Their 32-match unbeaten run in the Premier League came to an end at Bournemouth before Sporting Lisbon beat them 4-1 in the Champions League — ending another long unbeaten stretch.
Guardiola’s men, gunning for a fifth consecutive Premier League title, are just two points behind league leaders Liverpool but will be wary of losing further ground.
Midfielder Bernardo Silva says the club’s multiple injury worries are not an excuse for their poor form but he admits the international break, which starts after the weekend, comes at a good time.
“At the moment with the injuries that we have and the psychological part as well, it will be good to have that rest, but before that we have a big game again,” he said.
One positive for City in their defeat to Sporting was the return of Kevin De Bruyne, who came on as a late substitute after seven weeks out of action.
If results go against them, Arsenal could find themselves eighth in the Premier League by the time they kick off against London rivals Chelsea on Sunday.
Mikel Arteta’s men have picked up just one point from their past three league games and lost their midweek Champions League clash against Inter Milan 1-0.
Arteta was upbeat despite the defeat at the San Siro, where captain Martin Odegaard made a welcome return to action after being absent since late August.
But defeat against in-form Chelsea plus a win for Liverpool would leave Arsenal, runners-up in each of the past two seasons, 10 points off top spot.
Thierry Henry said on CBS Sports that if Liverpool and City win at the weekend and Arsenal lose, his former side could be out of the title race.
“It would be extremely difficult because you (would) have too many teams to catch... I don’t see two teams collapsing,” he said.
Arne Slot has won 14 of his first 16 games in charge of Liverpool in all competitions.
The club had a relatively kind fixture list at the start of the season but they show no signs of letting up — taking seven points from games against Chelsea, Arsenal and Brighton in recent weeks and boasting a perfect record in the Champions League.
Liverpool have also beaten two Premier League teams, West Ham and Brighton, on their way to the League Cup quarter-finals.
Former Feyenoord boss Slot brushed off a question about whether he was finding his new job “easy” after Liverpool’s thumping 4-0 win against German champions Bayer Leverkusen this week.
“Every team that plays against us is in the top of their game,” he said. “And if you want to win that, you always have to be consistent in your intensity, and that’s not always easy but that is what’s needed.”
Liverpool have a tough run of fixtures coming up, starting with Aston Villa at home on Saturday, but so far they have proved they have what it takes.
Fixtures
Saturday (1500 GMT unless stated)
Brentford vs. Bournemouth, Crystal Palace v Fulham, West Ham vs. Everton, Wolves vs. Southampton, Brighton v Manchester City (1730), Liverpool vs. Aston Villa (2000)
Sunday (1400 unless stated)
Manchester Utd vs. Leicester, Nottingham Forest vs. Newcastle, Tottenham vs. Ipswich, Chelsea vss. Arsenal (1630)
Bucks snap losing streak with Jazz rout
- Lillard rattled in four three-pointers and shot 12-of-22 from the field en route to his third straight 30-point game to help Milwaukee claim only their second win
- Minnesota Timberwolves scored a 135-119 blowout of the Chicago Bulls on the road while the San Antonio Spurs proved too strong for Portland Trail Blazers, winning 118-105
LOS ANGELES: Damian Lillard scored 34 points as the Milwaukee Bucks snapped a run of six straight defeats to bag their first home win of the season with a 123-100 victory over the Utah Jazz on Thursday.
Lillard rattled in four three-pointers and shot 12-of-22 from the field en route to his third straight 30-point game to help Milwaukee claim only their second win since a season-opening defeat of the Philadelphia 76ers last month.
Giannis Antetokounmpo added 31 points with 16 rebounds while Bobby Portis bagged 19 off the bench as Milwaukee clinched a badly needed victory after a miserable start to the campaign.
The 2021 NBA champions started the game with a 1-6 record that has left them one place off the bottom of the Eastern Conference.
Utah looked ready to compound Milwaukee’s problems after taking a 61-57 half-time lead at the Fiserv Forum.
But the Bucks finally clicked into gear with a devastating third-quarter performance, outscoring Utah 31-16 to build what turned out to be an insurmountable lead as they finally gave their home fans something to cheer about.
“It feels great,” Lillard said. “Getting off to a rough start, it’s easy to get down on yourself and start to panic a little bit and worry.
“Tonight we just came out with the right mentality. They hit some threes, but we stuck with it, shared the ball and finally we caught our stride and take over the game.
“We just got to be able to use this as momentum going forward.”
In other games, the Minnesota Timberwolves scored a 135-119 blowout of the Chicago Bulls on the road while the San Antonio Spurs proved too strong for the Portland Trail Blazers, winning 118-105.
In Chicago, Anthony Edwards sparked the Timberwolves to a come-from-behind win, scoring 33 points including five three-pointers with eight rebounds and six assists.
Chicago had dominated for long periods, leading the game from early in the first quarter until midway through the fourth.
But Minnesota erupted to devastating effect in the final period, turning the game on its head after outscoring Chicago 45-24 to cruise home.
Six Timberwolves players finished in double figures, with Julius Randle delivering 22 points and Rudy Gobert adding 21 points.
French international Gobert saluted Edwards’ decisive contribution.
“Every year his playmaking has got better and better and now this is the year where I feel like he’s really able to see what’s happening on the floor,” Gobert said.
“It’s just on me to get him open or get open myself and finish the play.”
Nikola Vucevic led Chicago’s scorers with 25 points, with Coby White adding 24.
In San Antonio, eight Spurs players tallied double-digit points totals in a victory over Portland.
San Antonio took to the floor once again without the presence of legendary head coach Gregg Popovich, who was taken ill last weekend with an unspecified health issue.
Maccabi Tel Aviv fans clash with reported pro-Palestinian protesters at Ajax Europa League match
- Israel’s PM aware of ‘very violent incident’ against Israelis in Amsterdam
- Details of the incidents remain unclear
AMSTERDAM: Supporters of Maccabi Tel Aviv clashed with apparent pro-Palestinian protesters before and after a Europa League soccer match between their team and Ajax outside the Dutch team’s home stadium in Amsterdam on Thursday night, media and officials said.
The clashes reportedly erupted despite a ban on a pro-Palestinian demonstration imposed by Amsterdam Mayor Femke Halsema, who had feared that clashes would break out between protesters and supporters of the Israeli soccer club.
Details of the incidents remained unclear, but Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has been informed of the details of “a very violent incident” targeting Israeli citizens in Amsterdam, his office said on Friday.
He directed that two rescue planes be sent immediately to assist citizens there, it added in a statement.
Israel’s national security ministry has also urged its citizens in Amsterdam to stay in their hotel rooms following the attacks, the prime minister’s office said in a second statement.
“Fans who went to see a football game, encountered anti-Semitism and were attacked with unimaginable cruelty just because of their Jewishness and Israeliness,” Israeli Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir said in a post on X.
Israeli media reported that Netanyahu also called his Dutch counterpart about them.
Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Saar has asked the Dutch government to help Israeli citizens arrive safely at the airport, Saar told his Dutch counterpart Caspar Veldkamp in a phone call on Friday.
Israel’s ambassador to the United Nations, Danny Danon, also condemned the violence in a post on the social media platform X.
There were no immediate reports of arrests or injuries from the clashes outside the Johan Cruyff Arena in Amsterdam, the city’s main arena and Ajax’s home stadium. Ajax won the Europa League match 5-0 after leading 3-0 at halftime.
