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Jon Rahm Made Honest Admission About Needing a ‘Miracle’ After Disappointing Start to Masters

Rahm rallied with a solid under-par round on Friday, but the damage was already done in his opening 18 holes.
Jon Rahm bounced back with a 2-under 70 on Friday but is well behind the leaders at the Masters.
Jon Rahm bounced back with a 2-under 70 on Friday but is well behind the leaders at the Masters. | Erick W. Rasco/Sports Illustrated

Jon Rahm entered this year’s Masters as one of the popular picks to win his second green jacket. He has been playing well on LIV Golf this year, has won two major championships in his career and has been one of the top players in the world for years.

Then he opened with a 6-over 78 on Thursday and suddenly it looked like he might not even make the weekend at Augusta.

Rahm bounced back in Friday’s second round, finishing with a 2-under 70 that has him sitting at 4-over, which should be good enough to sneak in under the cut line.

Still, this Masters must be disappointing for Rahm, especially since he was hoping to make a statement while facing off against his former PGA Tour colleagues, which happens just four times a year since he jump over to LIV Golf.

Rahm spoke with the media after his second round and explained what went wrong in his first round. He also addressed what his mindset will be going into the weekend, where he will be well behind the leaders.

“Yeah, I don't know. Just one of the things where it's golf,” Rahm said of his poor first round. “I felt really good all year besides yesterday. Actually felt pretty good today as well. Yesterday was just an anomaly where everything that could go wrong went wrong. Not that I shot myself out of the tournament but I'm going to need an absolute miracle starting today, and didn't quite do enough. I'm going to need a heck of a round tomorrow to give myself a chance and even then, might be a little too far away.”

Rahm is right—he is going to need a very special weekend to be a factor on Sunday afternoon. That awful first round put him in a hole. The course should only get tougher over the weekend with the summer-like weather conditions that are expected, which will only make it even harder to make a run at the top.

How Jon Rahm has finished in major championships since leaving joining LIV Golf

Rahm left the PGA Tour for LIV Golf in December of 2023 after saying previously that he wouldn’t make the move.

Since then he hasn’t won a major championship. He has, however, contended a few times.

2024 Major Championships

Finish

Masters

T45

PGA Championship

Missed the cut

U.S. Open

Didn’t play due to foot infection.

British Open

T7

2025 Major Championships

Finish

Masters

T14

PGA Championship

T8

U.S. Open

T7

British Open

T34

While there are some pretty good finishes in those seven events, when Rahm left the PGA Tour in 2024 he was the No. 3-ranked player in the world. In 2023 he won the Masters, finished T10 in the U.S. Open, and T2 at the British Open. He struggled in the 2023 PGA championship, finishing T50.

How Jon Rahm has performed at LIV Golf

Rahm’s time so far with LIV Golf could be viewed as a disappointment. He won the season-long points race last year despite not winning an individual event, and finally ended a tournament drought with a victory in March at LIV Golf Hong Kong.

More was expected from Rahm when he made he move to LIV Golf, especially since the fields are much smaller and the strength of those fields is nowhere close to those on the PGA Tour.

Rahm will have another two days at Augusta National to try to climb up the leaderboard, but it sure looks like he’s going to leave another major championship with a sour taste in his mouth.


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Andy Nesbitt
ANDY NESBITT

Andy Nesbitt is the assistant managing editor of audience engagement at Sports Illustrated. He works closely with the Breaking and Trending News team to shape SI’s daily coverage across all sports. A 20-year veteran of the sports media business, he has worked for Fox Sports, For the Win, The Boston Globe and NBC Sports, having joined SI in February 2023. Nesbitt is a golf fanatic who desperately wants to see the Super Bowl played on a Saturday night.

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