Jon Rahm Opens Up On Difficulties of Jumping to LIV Golf Ahead of First 2024 Event

Rahm is used to playing events in January, but this year he was wrapped up in setting up his new LIV team while bracing for the reaction to the announcement of his big move.

PLAYA DEL CARMEN, Mexico – From a golf standpoint, Jon Rahm is unsure of what to expect this week. Not only is he making his debut in the LIV Golf League, but he’s playing in his first competitive tournament since late November.

Typically by now, Rahm might have already played three times on the PGA Tour.

He missed his title defense at the Sentry and the American Express and would have all but certainly played last week at the Farmers, played at Torrey Pines where he won the 2021 U.S. Open.

But his move to LIV Golf meant he could no longer compete in those events, thus delaying his competitive golf while filling out his Legion XIII team and getting ready for a new adventure.

Rahm won a career-high four PGA Tour events, including the 2023 Masters.

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“The weeks leading up to the announcement weren't the easiest,’’ Rahm said Wednesday at the Mayakoba Resort, where the first LIV Golf event of the year begins Friday. “I had to weigh a lot, basically get enough info to then make an informed decision. Even through the process of negotiations, it was just very, very deep waters compared to what I'm used to. I had to be more involved than I thought I was going to have to be. But once the announcement was made, I think everything became a lot easier.

“Having to keep the secrecy and not being able to talk to anybody about it was difficult. Again, once it became public, the reaction was pretty much what I expected. The ones that are close friends that maybe had an idea have supported me, and obviously there's some people that are going to disagree with any decision we make in life. Pretty much in line with what I expected, but it was nice to have some time after that before my first competition round in LIV Golf to process and then actually kind of refocus and get to work.’’

Rahm, the reigning Masters champion, saw Tyrrell Hatton join his team at the last minute, not signing until Monday night. The two are friends and Rahm lobbied for him to be signed.

His team also consists of Caleb Surratt, who left his golf team at the University of Tennessee to turn pro and join LIV Golf; and Kieran Vincent, who made it onto the league by winning one of three spots in December at its Promotions event.

As LIV’s first “expansion team,’’ Rahm said he expects it to be competitive. As for his own golf, he’s curious to see how he performs.

“I feel good,’’ he said. “It's one of the odd parts. At this point I would have maybe already played three, four events, so it's getting used to that. I'm very used to having to grind a little bit more during Christmas and early in the year to start competing. I feel confident. I'm always—every time I tee it up, my goal is to win.

“No matter what shape my game is in, that's pretty much the goal. There's been times where on a Tuesday maybe it felt pretty bad and ended up performing great, so it really doesn't matter what it feels like today.’’