After leaping from the PGA Tour to the LIV Golf League in December, Jon Rahm did not get an opportunity to defend his first three victories from 2023.
Rahm may solely watch the Sentry in Hawai’i, American Specific in La Quinta, California, and the Genesis Invitational at Riviera Nation Membership exterior Los Angeles on TV after PGA Tour commissioner Jay Monahan suspended him for competing within the LIV Golf League.
Rahm, 29, additionally missed taking part in in final week’s Gamers Championship at TPC Sawgrass in Ponte Vedra Seashore, Florida, the tour’s flagship occasion and “fifth main.”
“I am not going to lie; for everyone who stated this might be simple, some issues have been, however not having the ability to defend some titles that imply lots to me hasn’t,” Rahm stated Tuesday. “I really like Palm Springs — I have been capable of win twice there. Riviera is about as charismatic of a golf course as we’ve. It is positively every week that’s implausible for lots of us, and it is a fan and participant favourite. Not being there was tough.
“I nonetheless watched the printed. I nonetheless watch golf as a result of I really like watching it, nevertheless it’s exhausting. It was exhausting to not be on the Phoenix Open on the finish of February, and it was exhausting to not be at Hawai’i as a result of it is one other event that my household enjoys, and I’ve finished implausible on.”
Lastly, Rahm will get an opportunity to defend a title on the Masters, the primary main championship of the season, at Augusta Nationwide Golf Membership beginning April 11. Jack Nicklaus (1965, 1966), Nick Faldo (1989, 1990) and Tiger Woods (2001, 2002) are the one back-to-back winners on the Masters.
“I believe simply being the Masters and being a serious, it is already a unique week as it’s,” Rahm stated. “I do not know if I’d have [defended the other tournament wins], and I will probably be desirous about these tournaments I have not defended on. It is finished. It is previous.
“It is a choice I made, and I am snug with it. However I am hoping I can come again, and hopefully I can truly defend [at the Masters], as nicely. That may be a dream come true. Not many back-to-back champions, and that may be very distinctive to have the ability to put my identify to that checklist.”
Final yr, Rahm survived a 30-hole marathon on Sunday and erased a 4-shot deficit to defeat Brooks Koepka and Phil Mickelson by 4. His victory got here on what would have been his idol Seve Ballesteros‘ 66th birthday and the fortieth anniversary of the Spaniard’s second Masters win.
“I hadn’t thought of it till now, actually,” Rahm stated. “I attempt to go about my day-to-day enterprise and what I am making an attempt to perform proper now. I’ve defended the Spanish Open, so this might be my second-ever title protection. That may be fairly unbelievable.”
Rahm, 29, signed a multiyear contract reportedly price greater than $300 million to develop into captain of the LIV Golf League’s new Legion XIII workforce. He’ll host the Champions Dinner because the reigning inexperienced jacket winner and expects a heat reception from different golfers.
“I imply, up to now I have not had any unhealthy experiences,” Rahm stated. “I’ve seen different PGA Tour execs, and I have not actually seen something unhealthy. I am assuming there will probably be fairly a number of that aren’t pleased and possibly our dynamics [have] modified, however because it involves my aspect, nothing adjustments. I nonetheless respect all people on each side and respect the sport of golf above all.”
On Monday, Monahan and participant administrators from the PGA Tour’s coverage board, together with Woods, met with Yasir Al-Rumayyan, governor of Saudi Arabia’s Public Funding Fund, within the Bahamas. The PIF, which has financed the LIV Golf League the previous three years, is contemplating an funding in PGA Tour Enterprises, a newly fashioned for-profit entity.
If a deal will get finished, males’s skilled golf might be reunited after three years of bitter disputes and controversy.
“Now, the way forward for the sport at this level is as much as the folks increased up,” Rahm stated. “I believe I’ve stated it earlier than, I believe there is a approach of coexisting, and if there’s some sort of union, I do not know what that appears like, however once more, I simply need to have the ability to see one of the best on the planet compete towards one of the best on the planet, no matter that appears like.”
Rahm is second within the LIV Golf League’s particular person factors standings after ending third in Mexico in his debut, eighth in Las Vegas, fifth in Saudi Arabia and 14th in Hong Kong. His workforce gained a workforce title on the season opener in Mexico.
A yr in the past, Rahm had already gained 3 times in eight begins on the PGA Tour earlier than capturing his second main championship win at Augusta Nationwide. In his final two begins earlier than the 2023 Masters, he was pressured to withdraw after just one spherical on the Gamers Championship due to sickness and tied for thirty first on the WGC-Dell Applied sciences Match Play.
The third-ranked golfer on the planet could have solely 5 begins this season earlier than the Masters, which follows LIV Golf’s April 5-7 event at Trump Nationwide Doral exterior Miami.
Rahm plans to play a few apply rounds at Augusta Nationwide subsequent week.
“Final yr I did not play the week earlier than the Masters,” Rahm stated. “This yr I’m. However I’ve finished it previously and finished nicely. It is exhausting to say what’s higher or not. It is slightly completely different.”
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