Many players have left the PGA Tour for LIV Golf. Jon Rahm is one of those players who had a marvelous career on the American circuit but decided to join the PIF-funded league. Although he has finished inside the top 10 in all the LIV Golf events he played, the Spaniard still has to taste his first victory in the Saudi circuit.

In two LIV Golf events, LIV Golf Mayakoba and LIV Golf Adelaide, he finished at T3. Despite being a dominating pro on the PGA Tour, his lack of a win raised questions about his performance. In a pre-match presser for LIV Golf Andalucia, Jon Rahm addressed his thoughts on the matter.

NUCLR GOLF shared a post on its official X handle (formerly Twitter) with a snippet of two questions he was asked during the presser regarding his performance in LIV Golf. The questions aimed to determine whether joining LIV Golf had caused a performance decline. To both questions, his answer was “No.”

When the eleven-time PGA Tour winner was asked to rate his performance in the Saudi-backed league so far out of 10, he replied in a roundabout manner: “Hard to say. There’s been weeks where I feel like I scored a lot better than I felt, and there’s been a couple weeks where it could have been better. Haven’t won yet so that would deduct quite a bit from it.”

Eventually, he did rate himself a 6 or 7 out of 10 but added a positive comment: “Still a lot to play for. It would not be unheard of to see a player finish strong and change that to maybe a 9 out of 10.”

Jon Rahm’s explanations and even his positive attitude for the rest of the year did not please the fans, as they seized the opportunity to bash the Spanish golfer online. So, what did they have to say?

Golf fans did not find Jon Rahm’s reasons justifiable

The PGA Tour is one of the oldest golf leagues in the world, with dominating players such as Scottie Scheffler, Rory McIlroy, and Xander Schauffele. Although some prominent names, such as Jon Rahm himself, Brooks Koepka, and Bryson DeChambeau, are now part of LIV Golf, the overall level of competitiveness in LIV Golf is nowhere near that of the PGA Tour. Additionally, a no-cut rule makes it much easier than the American circuit. Alluding to this, one user said, “Maybe not the reason for the decline in his play but it is 1000% less competitive when you don’t even have a cut or anything and get paid no matter what .” 

Bryson DeChambeau has performed extremely well in the three 2024 majors, winning the US Open, finishing runner-up in the PGA Championship, and placing T6 at the Masters Tournament. In contrast, Rahm withdrew from the US Open, missed the cut at the PGA Championship, and finished T45 in the Masters. Pointing to this and the large sums paid to former PGA golfers now in LIV, one netizen said, “I do think LIV has made guys “comfortable.” Comfortable is the ultimate trap and those players who seem to continue to grind (Bryson), even though they’ve been paid, are still seeing results.“

Jon Rahm is friends with Rory McIlroy. After spending many years on the PGA Tour, Rahm must have made many friends or at least had many acquaintances. On LIV Golf, he’s new and might not have any close relationships yet. Along these lines, one user said, “I think he misses old friends.“

The eleven-time PGA Tour winner was paid a huge signing sum of $566.4 million by the breakaway circuit, making him the second highest-paid athlete of 2024, according to Forbes. Taking a dig at this, someone said, “He’s getting guaranteed money why work your ass off to be in top shape?”

Another comment reflected the contradiction sensed in his denial of LIV Golf’s less competitiveness affecting his performance: “Meaning yes. He’s miserable there.”

What do you think of Jon Rahm’s stance on his performance since joining LIV Golf? Do you feel optimistic for him? or do you agree with most of the netizens?