Jon Rahm – ‘Difficult’ to not defend titles that mean a lot to me

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 might solely watch the Sentry in Hawai’i, American Categorical 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 may be simple, some issues have been, however not with the ability to defend some titles that imply so much to me hasn’t,” Rahm stated Tuesday. “I like Palm Springs — I have been capable of win twice there. Riviera is about as charismatic of a golf course as now we have. It is positively per week that’s improbable for lots of us, and it is a fan and participant favourite. Not being there was troublesome.

“I nonetheless watched the published. I nonetheless watch golf as a result of I like watching it, but it surely’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 performed improbable 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 significant, it is already a unique week as it’s,” Rahm stated. “I do not know if I might have [defended the other tournament wins], and I will likely be enthusiastic about these tournaments I have never defended on. It is performed. It is previous.

“It is a determination I made, and I am snug with it. However I am hoping I can come again, and hopefully I can really defend [at the Masters], as nicely. That may be a dream come true. Not many back-to-back champions, and that might be very distinctive to have the ability to put my title to that record.”

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 considered 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 never had any dangerous experiences,” Rahm stated. “I’ve seen different PGA Tour execs, and I have never actually seen something dangerous. I am assuming there will likely be fairly a couple of that aren’t comfortable and possibly our dynamics [have] modified, however because it involves my facet, nothing modifications. I nonetheless respect everyone on either 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 performed, 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 means of coexisting, and if there’s some kind of union, I do not know what that appears like, however once more, I simply need to have the ability to see the most effective on the planet compete in opposition to the most effective 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 thrice 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 can 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 performed it previously and performed nicely. It is exhausting to say what’s higher or not. It is somewhat completely different.”