LIV Golf has been thrown under the microscope at The Masters for all the wrong reasons.
Their two superstars, Jon Rahm and Bryson DeChambeau, were popular picks to win the Green Jacket thanks to their recent form. They had won the last two LIV events before arriving at Augusta.
But their opening rounds threw them out of contention immediately. They were a combined 10-over, as no LIV Golf player shot under par on Thursday. Since then, Tyrrell Hatton shot a red-hot 66 to right those wrongs, but the performance of LIV players was still jarring.
Sir Nick Faldo was among many to say LIV Golf, with their easier courses and less competitive fields, doesn’t properly prepare players for the majors. That’s why Rahm has been uncompetitive at the year’s biggest events since signing with the Saudi-backed league.
After shooting a second round 70, Rahm responded to those claims.
Jon Rahm says ‘golf is golf’ after being questioned about readiness for The Masters
Rahm was asked after his second round, which will most likely see him inside the cut line, what adjustments he had to make when coming from LIV to The Masters. His answer? “None. Golf is golf.”
Rahm, understandably, was not ready to entertain the notion that joining LIV Golf has affected his ability to win majors. He’s not one to admit a mistake, just look at how he’s approached his saga with the DP World Tour.
Rahm was then asked how LIV prepares him for the majors, and he said, “Same as any other golf tournament in the world, yeah.”
The Spaniard did not seem happy with the line of questioning and swatted them away. But if he continues to play poorly at majors, then he’ll have to face them over and over again.
Jon Rahm says if he can still win The Masters
Rahm finished his second round nine shots back from the benchmark Rory McIlroy set through the first round, so there’s plenty of work for him to do over the weekend.
He said he has a very slim chance of getting to the top of the leaderboard come Sunday: “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.”
It sounds like Rahm is going to give it a real go over the weekend, so get ready for some fireworks!