Jon Rahm arrives at Augusta National as one of the tournament favorites.
He’s finished in the top two in four of his five events on LIV Golf this season, and snapped his winless streak with a victory in Hong Kong. But Rahm’s return to top form isn’t what has been keeping him in the headlines this season.
Both Rory McIlroy and Justin Rose have been highly critical of the Spaniard after he refused to accept a deal from the DP World Tour which would have allowed him to play on LIV and the European Tour.
A number of LIV players took the deal, including Rahm’s teammate Tyrrell Hatton, but now Rahm’s Ryder Cup eligibility is in doubt. To play on Europe’s Ryder Cup team, you must be a member of the DP World Tour, which the two-time major winner is currently not.
Both McIlroy and Rose have accused Rahm of putting his own interests above the team, so there’s some tension brewing in the European side. That has brought some criticism onto Rahm during the week of The Masters.
Jon Rahm accused of bringing ‘distracting narrative’ to The Masters
With the conversation surrounding Rahm being focused on his Ryder Cup eligibility, rather than his chances of winning The Masters, the Golf Channel’s Eamon Lynch criticized him for always bringing drama to Augusta National.
First, he joined LIV Golf to stir up a media frenzy, and he has been tied to news away from the golf course ever since. Lynch said, “This is the third time Jon’s shown up here since he won The Masters and it’s the third year he’s shown up with a distracting narrative going on around him of his own making.
“In 2024 it was just after he moved to LIV. it was his third appearance in the broader golf ecosystem, he answered all of those questions.
“By the time he came in 2025, there was a narrative, I thought, unfairly at the time, that LIV had made him a worse player, so he was trying to answer that and become an advocate, essentially, for his own game on that tour.
“Now there’s this whole issue about his eligibility for the Ryder Cup with the DP World Tour, and his refusal to pay fines, which is going to leave him suspended. That’s a narrative he doesn’t need.
“Maybe he’s like Seve. Maybe he plays better with a little bit of noise going on around him and a chip on his shoulder, but they’re all of his own making, and this is the third year in a row where we’ve had it.”
It’s a little harsh to use 2025 against Rahm. He didn’t start the narrative about his poor form. But there’s no doubt that he’s causing a huge issue for Europe ahead of next year’s Ryder Cup.
