ROCESTER, England – After slipping on the green jacket inside Butler Cabin at Augusta National in April 2023, Jon Rahm made 13 more starts the remainder of the year. He had six top-10s, including two runner-up finishes. But he didn’t win.
After joining LIV Golf to become the captain of the expansion Legion XIII team for the 2024 season, his first 10 starts consisted of nine top-10 finishes and a WD due to a foot infection. He was the only player in that span with a top-10 result in every tournament he completed. But he didn’t win – at least not an individual trophy, although his team won three times.
In the four majors this year, he was a non-factor in his Masters defense, missed the cut at the PGA Championship, didn’t play the U.S. Open due to that foot infection, and tied for seventh a week ago in Royal Troon at The Open. Obviously, no wins there.
But plenty of questions.
Why isn’t he winning? Had he lost his competitive edge? Had joining LIV Golf impacted his ability to close?
As the winless streak continued, the chorus of critics grew larger. Rahm provided responses, but he knew the chirping would continue until he returned to the winner’s circle.
“It never bothered me because I don’t think any of you guys would say something I wasn’t already thinking,” Rahm said. “I’m my worst critic.”
On Sunday night at LIV Golf UK by JCB, his detractors finally went silent. Rahm returned to the land of the winning with a one-shot victory over Cameron Smith, Joaquin Niemann and his Legion teammate Tyrrell Hatton, and double-dipped with Legion’s fourth team win of the year
For Rahm, the initial emotion was bittersweet, since his good friend Hatton missed a chance to force a playoff by three-putting the final hole for bogey. But the win was also a relief, reducing the weight off his shoulders that had built up in the last 16 months.
Credit the criticism – the self-induced variety as well as from the outside – as motivation.
“I’ve felt like from what I’ve read in the media it’s that I guess maybe my play hasn’t reflected how good I really felt about my game,” Rahm said. “I felt like I was playing good, and I guess top 10 is not enough anymore, even when I didn’t feel my best in some of the weeks.
“Just because I had poor performances at the Masters and the PGA, I think I was taking a lot of criticism just for two weeks on how I was really playing and how I really felt. So, feel really good to actually perform the way I did on the weekend last week [at The Open] and carry that over and win it.
“I’m happy about it, but when you’re in the public eye, you’re going to get criticized. You almost have to use it as fuel to motivate yourself.”
Two differences in England proved vital in getting the job done.
His opening-round 8-under 63 for a two-stroke lead was the perfect launchpad entering the weekend. For as well as Rahm has played in LIV Golf tournaments, he had never owned the outright lead after any round. That big start allowed him to overcome two late bogeys in his second-round 70 and remain in contention.
Meanwhile, his final-round form is now a strength. Earlier in the season, he struggled at times on Sunday. In his LIV Golf debut at Mayakoba, he finished with two bogeys to miss the playoff. In Las Vegas, his final-round 71 was the only round over par of the top eight finishers.
But at JCB, he hunted down 36-hole leader Andy Ogletree and stuck with a smart gameplan to play 5-under bogey-free golf for 16 holes. His only mistake was a misread at the 17th green, resulting in a three-putt bogey that dropped him into a tie with Hatton. But only temporarily.
“Really happy I got it done,” Rahm said. “Did what I needed to do on Friday, which is something I feel like I haven’t done this season, take the lead or shoot a low one to put myself in a really good position to maybe where I can afford a bad Saturday. Instead of playing catch-up for the entire Saturday, I was kind of in position.
“I learned from the mistakes I made [Saturday], I adjusted and played a fantastic round of golf [Sunday]. There’s not a lot that went wrong. Made a lot of good swings out there and had a lot of fun, which is kind of how you want it.”
His first individual title in 27 starts couldn’t have been any sweeter. Or timelier, especially since his next start is this week’s men’s golf competition at the Paris Olympics. He’ll enter the 60-man field as one of the favorites and would love nothing more than claiming a couple of medals with Spanish teammate and LIV Golf competitor David Puig.
His confidence level has never been higher this season.
“It’s something I really look forward to,” Rahm said. “It’s going to be a fantastic week to share with David, being another LIV member, a player that’s become a really close friend of mine. It’s going to be a lot of fun, and hopefully one of us has a chance to get the gold.”
