Jon Rahm reveals ‘difficult’ part of leaving PGA Tour for LIV Golf

It’s been a weird few months for Jon Rahm. Make no mistake, it’s been a lucrative few months, but weird nonetheless.

Rahm won four times between January and April last year — The Sentry, American Express, Genesis and Masters — yet his return to Augusta National in a couple of weeks will be his first title defense of the year.

You might recall, that as a member of LIV Golf, Rahm was suspended by the PGA Tour and thus unable to compete in the 2024 editions of The Sentry, AmEx or Genesis. The Masters, however, isn’t run by the Tour, so he’ll be there at Augusta, donning the green jacket as the defending champion and eyeing major title No. 3.

“I’m not going to lie; for everybody who said this would be easy, some things have been, but not being able to defend some titles that mean a lot to me hasn’t,” Rahm said on Tuesday, during a lengthy conference call soon after his Masters Champions Dinner menu was released. “I love Palm Springs. I’ve been able to win twice there. Riviera is about as charismatic of a golf course as we have. It’s definitely a week that it’s fantastic for a lot of us, and it’s a fan and player favorite. Not being there was difficult.

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“I still watched the broadcast. I still watch golf because I love watching it, but it’s hard,” Rahm continued. “It was hard not to be at the Phoenix Open at the end of February, and it was hard not to be at Hawaii because it’s another tournament that my family enjoys and I’ve done fantastic on.”

Rahm, candidly, said he hadn’t even thought about those title defenses until it was brought up in the final question of the media availability. His answer was about 300 words long, at first talking about everything he missed and how hard it was. Then it was as if he snapped back into the present.

“It’s done. It’s past. It’s a decision I made, and I’m comfortable with it,” he said. “But I’m hoping I can come back, and hopefully I can actually defend [Masters] week, as well. That would be a dream come true. Not many back-to-back champions, and that would be very unique to be able to put my name to that list.”

Rahm still tunes in to the PGA Tour, too. He talked at length about watching the Players Championship. About the course’s conditioning as seen through a TV screen, about the thrilling conclusion — “that lip-out [from Wyndham Clark], it’s gut-wrenching to watch,” he said — and about how he hopes to play in that tournament again.

But… “As it comes to my new journey, it’s obviously a little bit different, but I’ve been enjoying it,” he said. “… But I’m definitely looking forward to joining with the rest of the best golfers in the world and teeing it up at the Masters with them.”