Jon Rahm during day three of LIV Golf Invitational – Hong Kong. | Photo by Lintao Zhang/Getty Images
Defending Masters champion Jon Rahm feels confident that a LIV golfer can win the illustrious Green Jacket at Augusta National this year.
Defending Masters champion Jon Rahm is confident that one of the 13 LIV golfers in this year’s field will prevail at Augusta National.
“There are quite a few major champions in LIV, and there are a few that are major champion quality golfers,” Rahm said ahead of this week’s LIV Golf event in Miami.
“So just pure numbers, if you go with math, wouldn’t be the highest, but I’m confident that one of us can get it done this year.”
One year ago, Rahm, a member of the PGA Tour at the time, fended off LIV Golf’s Brooks Koepka during the final round of The Masters to win his first Green Jacket. But since then, Rahm joined LIV Golf, increasing the likelihood that a current LIV player will prevail at Augusta this time around.
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Jon Rahm speaks to the media ahead of LIV Golf’s event at Trump National Doral in Miami.
Other LIV golfers in the field next week include past champions Phil Mickelson, Bubba Watson, Patrick Reed, Dustin Johnson, Sergio Garcia, and Charl Schwartzel. Six other players, besides Rahm, will also tee it up at Augusta National, thanks to their current world ranking or recent major championship triumph. You could also receive a special invitation from the club, as is the case with Joaquin Niemann.
“There’s some great golf being played out here, some great golf being played on the other tours, and so it’s going to be a battle, but you know, at the end of the day, that’s individual,” Watson said.
“So we are pulling for our friends no matter where they play, but it’s going to be a battle, and hopefully it is a LIV player because I’m one of those that’s up there at the top, and hopefully I’m in that top five or challenging on Sunday.”
Watson and Mickelson have not yet made a trip to Augusta National, but they will arrive there Sunday night after the final round of LIV Golf’s event in Miami concludes.
Rahm, meanwhile, visited the club last week, where he and his friend played the course alongside a member. The Spaniard also noted how he got many emotions out of the way and said he would be ready to go come tournament week.
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Jon Rahm celebrates after holing the winning putt at the 2023 Masters.
But this time a year ago, Rahm arrived at Augusta having won three times already on the PGA Tour. He has not yet prevailed in a LIV Golf event, with his most recent professional victory being last year’s Masters.
“This year, I feel like I have been playing really good golf but not over that hump of winning yet,” Rahm said.
“I’m confident now, and I’m equally confident on my game pretty much any given day of the year. I think that’s how any competitor should be. But this is the difference in how I’ve been playing the last few months. I’m comfortable. I’m a little fresher, if anything, going into these next few weeks, so I’m looking forward to it.”
Thanks to LIV Golf’s schedule, Rahm has played 17 fewer competitive rounds this year than last. He has three top-10 finishes and most recently came in 14th in Hong Kong.
Whether less golf helps him more remains to be seen, but either way, Rahm—and many other LIV players—will arrive in Georgia as confident as ever.
Jack Milko is a golf staff writer for SB Nation’s Playing Through. Be sure to check out @_PlayingThrough for more golf coverage. You can follow him on Twitter @jack_milko as well.
