LIV Golf stars are growing confident that Jon Rahm will join the Saudi-backed tour - with players optimistic that the Spaniard will make the switch despite previously dismissing the idea

Golfers on the LIV circuit are increasingly confident of landing Jon Rahm in what would be a huge coup for the Saudi-backed tour.

Sources close to the Masters champion firmly dismissed that possibility when approached by Mail Sport at the DP World Tour Championship in Dubai on Sunday.

However, prominent players from LIV are privately optimistic that the Spaniard could be swayed by an offer vastly in excess of the £300million he reportedly rejected ahead of the breakaway’s inaugural season in 2022.

Those rumblings have now been followed by a report via the golf outlet Bunkered on Wednesday that said Rahm is in negotiations with Greg Norman’s circuit.

It would be a huge blow for the PGA Tour to lose the world No 3, though it ought to be stressed that similar noises have emanated from the LIV scene since its creation without a move coming to fruition.

Rahm, for his part, has maintained a close friendship with LIV star Sergio Garcia and it has been notable how he has stayed out of the vicious mud-slinging between rival tours in the past two seasons. 

Doubtless that has contributed to the constant rumours around his future and, unlike several players who previously made the move, he has exemptions to the all the majors for the next five years because of his Masters victory in April.

And yet it would still be a significant surprise if a golfer so obsessed with his sport’s history was to turn his back on the traditional front of the game. A senior figure at the DP World Tour told Mail Sport on Sunday: ‘I really don’t see that happening.’