Ram On May 16, Beijing time, Joan Lam switched to LIV golf last year, which was regarded as the turning point of the topic of "we vs. them" in the golf world in the past 24 months.
But Joan Ram did not fully agree with this statement.
"You people keep saying: 'The other side,'" Joan Lam said Tuesday when preparing for the Varhara PGA Championship, "but I am still a member of the US Tour, whether I am suspended or not. I still hope to support the US Tour. I think this is a very important difference."
The Spaniard's move to LIV golf last year shocked the golf world, and he was immediately suspended from the US Tour.
His move was not only regarded as a heavy blow to the US Tour - after all, Joan Ram was the two Grand Slam champions, and once ranked first in the world ranking - but also hit some people who have a good opinion of Joan Ram. Since the split, Joan Ram is one of the star players who most firmly support the US Tour.
Joan Ram insisted that it was his choice, but sometimes people change. Six months before he changed his mind, the US Tour and the gold owner behind LIV Golf announced that they were planning to merge.
Some people think that Joan Ram's leaving the US Tour for LIV is a new bargaining chip that the Saudi Arabian League wants to find in the negotiations. Since the negotiation has been delayed for nearly a year, some core players - most notably McRoy - have softened the position of "we versus them".
Joan Ram made it clear that he never believed in such opposition.
"I didn't feel like I was on the other side. I just didn't play there," he said.
Joan Lam and his 15 LIV colleagues will participate in the PGA Championship this week. Obviously, now the four grand slams have become the only event where all the top players gather together.
This month's headlines include that McRoy has become a member of the negotiation team of the US Tour, and Jimmy Dunn, an important promoter behind the US Tour, has also announced his resignation. All this shows an urgent problem: when they entered the second year at the negotiating table, they still did not reach any agreement.
Joan Ram felt unhappy about this. Even from his personal point of view, he had nothing to worry about. It is reported that he transferred to LIV Golf and received a signing fee of about 500 million dollars.
Nevertheless, he still hoped that the negotiations would continue.
"Because everyone has different ideas, I think everyone must make sacrifices and compromise to make the negotiation successful," he said.
Although Joan Ram took such a step, the European Tour, the organizer of the Ryder Cup in Europe, recently made it clear that Joan Ram and other LIV players can participate in the Ryder Cup next year as long as they pay a fine, accept a ban, and then play at least four stops a year. Joan Ram said that he was willing to abide by the regulations of the European Tour, and would make a schedule around his wife's due date at the end of the year.
The news of Ryder Cup has at least given people a glimmer of hope that a settlement can be reached between golf tournaments. Joan Ram knew that it would be more difficult to talk about reconciliation when talking about bigger aspects, but he felt it was worth working hard for.
"I think we can lay a positive foundation for the development of golf in the coming decades," he said. "You need people who are much smarter than me to do this, so that we can work together to achieve success."
(light wind)
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