Smylie Kaufman has cast doubt over whether Jon Rahm will be able to win a third major title at The Masters this year, despite his superb form on LIV Golf.
There are not many players on the planet in better form right now than Rahm. The Spaniard has not finished outside the top five on LIV Golf this year, with one win and three runner-up finishes.
Of course, Rahm is no stranger to playing superbly on LIV. He has won the individual title in both full seasons since leaving the PGA Tour. He has, so far, not been able to take that into the major championships.
Rahm was arguably the best player in the world when he decided to sign for LIV. He has registered three top 10 finishes without breaking into the top six.
Smylie Kaufman admits his concern for Jon Rahm ahead of The Masters
Some may have been tempted to put those results down to LIV Golf events previously being played over 54 holes. That is not ideal preparation for the demands of the four majors.
But perhaps there is another reason why playing on LIV may be harming Rahm’s chances of a third major win.
Speaking on The Smylie Show, Smylie Kaufman explained that the venues that host LIV events are not helping Rahm find his very best form.
“He’s played eight major championships since going to LIV. He has not had a top five since he’s gone in any major championship, which is shocking for a player of his calibre. When you look at his results for the last two years at the majors, or at least The Masters, last year he finished 14th, and you dive into it a little bit, he really struggled with his iron play. That was one of the big reasons why he had a poor week. And then the year prior to that, I actually remember being on the call for this and noticing, ‘man, I’ve never seen Rahm putt this bad’. He finished 45th, his iron game was okay, but the putting was just all over the place. In the last two years, one part of his game has been below par. Typically for Jon Rahm, he’s above average to very good across the board, such a consistent player,” he said.
“In 2023, the year prior to when he went to LIV Golf, he won so many events heading into The Masters. He was obviously talked about as the next Spaniard to win. He had an incredible week with the irons. It keeps reformatting my brain of what’s important around this place? What really will eventually become of the next Masters champion this year? And I always keep going back to you’ve got to be a dang good iron player.
“I still come back to that I don’t know if LIV Golf prepares you enough from a golf course standpoint and the challenges that you see at Augusta National, how precise you have to be. Now, maybe Jon has tried to take a different mental approach this season on LIV Golf, and tried to narrow his focus, practice a little harder, be a little bit tougher on himself on golf courses that aren’t going to be quite as difficult. That’s why I think guys that have played on the PGA Tour this entire season, they’ve played Riviera, they’ve played Bay Hill when it’s tough, Valspar was so difficult, and San Antonio. The level of difficulty is a little bit higher on the PGA Tour. Not to say that you can’t go play a LIV Golf schedule and win a major championship, because that’s not true, Brooks has done it, Bryson, but when you look at his major results, hasn’t had a top five yet, I think you’ll continue to say that until he either wins another major championship or contends and comes close.”
Jon Rahm’s hugely impressive strokes gained numbers on LIV Golf this season
It remains difficult to know just how significant good form on LIV truly is. Ultimately, as Kaufman notes, just two players have won a major while playing in the breakaway league.
Rahm’s form throughout his LIV career has been absolutely outstanding. His worst ever finish in a LIV event is 11th. But clearly, he has not been able to take that to the game’s biggest stages.
It is encouraging that he has gained strokes in almost every single category at each LIV event this year.
In fact, the only areas where he has lost strokes in the field this season came when he lost a small amount with his approach play in Riyadh, and had an incredibly poor week on the greens in Singapore, according to Data Golf.
Now that Brooks Koepka and Patrick Reed have become the first notable names to walk away from LIV in recent months, it does feel particularly important that their star players shine in the majors this season.
Rahm is certainly still fighting to prove that his decision to sign with LIV was not a big mistake for his career.
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