2026 was a strange season for Jon Rahm.
Jon Rahm won the LIV Golf individual title and an away Ryder Cup team with Team Europe, but he can’t have been satisfied with the way that he accomplished this.
The two-time major winner was winless on the season. He earned the LIV title through relentless consistency, but wasn’t able to lift a trophy and struggled at the majors.
He had two top-10 finishes at the majors, one at the US Open and the other at the PGA Championship, but never really felt in contention. A T34 at The Open Championship finalized what was a tough season for Rahm individually.
Despite that, he was given an award by LIV Golf before the start of the 2026 season, which is pretty laughable.
Jon Rahm given LIV Golf’s Clutch Player of the Year Award
He didn’t win a single event in 2025, but Rahm was still named LIV Golf’s Clutch Player of the Year. This was one of 22 awards given out to LIV players during their end-of-season awards, weeks before the start of the 2026 season.
But it simply doesn’t make sense. If anything, Rahm’s 2025 season was about him falling just short repeatedly. He had four second-place finishes on the season, and even lost two LIV events in a playoff. Not exactly clutch.
Meanwhile, Joaquin Niemann was named MVP, despite not winning the individual title. But he did break the record for the most events won on a LIV season, with five.
So wouldn’t it make more sense to flip these awards? Neimann continually found a way to get victories over the line, winning nearly every time he was in contention. He just wasn’t consistent enough over the course of the season to win the title. In other words, he was really clutch when it mattered,
Meanwhile, Rahm wasn’t able to take victories when in the fight for the win, but he was in contention nearly every week, so he was able to score enough points to beat Neimann. Isn’t that what the MVP award should be about? Especially when Rahm’s Legion XIII won the team title.
It honestly seems like LIV just handed these awards out at random. Not a good look to start a vitally important season for the Saudi-backed league.
LIV Golf cannot afford another winless season from Jon Rahm
2025 was a disastrous year for LIV. Their rivals, the PGA Tour, went from strength to strength, seeing record viewership figures, but LIV has lost all momentum.
None of their players won a major, they weren’t able to recruit anyone of note during the offseason, and Brooks Koepka jumped ship to re-join the PGA Tour.
Meanwhile, on the course, their two biggest stars, Bryson DeChambeau and Rahm, were far from their best, and not in contention enough to draw fan interest. That needs to change next year.
The league’s future depends on its biggest stars delivering. If Rahm and DeChambeau are battling for victories week-in, week-out, then it’s bound to draw some attention.
LIV even changed to a 72-hole format this year, which should help the cream rise to the top come the end of these events. The ball is now in DeChambeau and Rahm’s court, and they need to deliver.
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