Jon Rahm Slammed As ‘Biggest Sellout’ by Golf Fans After New York Stock Exchange Appearance

It’s another big-money move by Jon Rahm! Don’t worry, for he did not join another golfing circuit or sign another multi-million dollar deal. Then what did he do, exactly? Well, the golfer was spotted alongside the top officials of the Santander Group at the New York Stock Exchange. Why? Interestingly enough, the financial services company that the Spaniard is the brand ambassador of, had gone ahead to launch Openbank in America.

“Honored to stand with Santander as they ring the NYSE bell to launch Openbank in the USA!” wrote the LIV Golf Pro on X. He did so while sharing a picture of himself alongside top executives of the company including Ana Botin-Executive Chairman of Banco Santander, Christiana Riley-Santander Group Regional Head of North America, and Timothy H. Wennes-US CEO and Country Head, among others.

Although the 29-year-old was just spotted supporting the opening of the new Openbank in America, the golfing community on the internet didn’t respond the way he would have liked them to. A lot of X users on the internet took to comment under the tweet, with some issuing jabs at the LIV Golf Pro while a couple of fans took to criticize the financial services company itself.

Fans wreak havoc under Jon Rahm’s ‘Santander’ tweet

Back in the month of December, last year, there was a lot of speculation surrounding the Spanish athlete jumping to LIV Golf for a whopping $550-$600 million signing bonus. Although he did join the PIF-funded circuit, the actual amount was reportedly a bit lower than the speculated one. Even so, the golfer didn’t confirm nor deny the talks on the dollar bills, all the while staying mum when it came up.

A couple of fans still seem to be angry with him for joining the Saudi-backed league. For a person immediately took to comment, “No one cares. You’re the biggest sellout of all the LIV golfers. I was a big fan but you sold out,” under the tweet. Another fan, meanwhile, just took to respond, “Win, lose, play, or don’t play. 600 Milly baby.” It appears the remarkable year that he dished out failed to impress some golfing enthusiasts.

Talking about his performances, the golfer was able to finish inside the top 10 in every LIV Golf event he teed off on, except for the Houston one where he had to withdraw. Regardless, he clinched a total of two victories, including the LIV Golf Individual champion title, alongside four other podium finishes. The remarkable year helped him rake in as much as $34,754,821. Truly impressive, to be honest. However, a follower on X didn’t think so as they took a jab at the same, “Financing their US operations with your LIV proceeds?!”

Back in 2009, Santander had received a lot of flak and was also dubbed a “hypocrite.” The reason? Well, the financial services company had gone ahead to sign the ‘Equator Principles’ while still financing the controversial Madeira Dam project in the Brazilian Amazon. Signing the set of socially and environmentally responsible financing guidelines while being a part of the Dam complex that has environmental and social threats didn’t sit right with many.

A user on the internet didn’t seem to have forgotten about the issue as they reacted negatively to the company Jon Rahm was associated with. One person responded, “Wow. Even hypocrites can ring a bell,” while another typed out, “Having whoever runs this account post this exhilarating photo got me feeling about as legitimately “honored” as you were standing with these Wall Street banking geezers.”

Seems like both parties have raked in quite a bit of hate on the internet owing to the recent move. Would the reception have been different if he was still a PGA Tour Pro? Who knows, there is a chance it would have, and also a chance it would not have. Anyhow, we’ll never find out now, would we?!