Jon Rahm wants the Saudi-backed LIV Golf to adhere to the 72-hole format that he used to play back when he was still affiliated with the PGA Tour. The reigning Masters Tournament champion recently opened up about that particular wish, which, if granted, would see LIV Golf parting ways with its current 54-hole scheme.
Jon Rahm dreams of 72 holes in LIV Golf
The number of holes played in an event is one of the major differences between LIV Golf and the PGA Tour. Rahm surely understands LIV Golf's desire to differentiate itself and develop a strong identity of its own in contrast to the PGA Tour, but if it's up to him, he'd rather have his current employer make the shift to a more traditional hole count.
For Rahm, LIV Golf and PGA Tour having some conformity, at least even in terms of the number of holes, would help reunite the two competing golf organizations for the sake of the sport.
“If there ever was a way where LIV could go to 72 holes I think it would help all of this argument a lot, Rahm said (h/t Iain Carter of BBC).
“The closer I think we can get LIV Golf to some other things the better. I think it would be for some kind of unification to feed into a world tour or something like that.
“I don't know if I'm alone in this, but I definitely wouldn't mind going back to 72 holes.”
Jon Rahm's move to join LIV Golf in 2022 shook the entire golf realm, but he also believes that the major decision he made was ultimately a step in the right direction not just for himself but for golf.
“That's a well thought out argument,” Rahm told Carter. “I could be the start of a tipping point in that sense. I understood the weight that [my] decision could have and the impact it could have. I understood that perfectly and that's why it wasn't an easy decision.”
“The balance of golf could be disturbed a little bit. Luckily in my career, especially last year, I accomplished a lot and I got to be one of the bigger names in golf. There are few active players that could have had a bigger impact than myself in that sense. Not to be patting myself on the back too much, but I understood the position I was in.”
Rahm at the 2024 Masters Tournament
Rahm is all set to start his Masters Tournament title defense this Thursday at Augusta National Golf Club in Georgia, where he also won his first and so far only Green Jacket. In 2023, he topped the field in the Masters with a final score of 12-under 276, besting the likes of Phil Mickelson and Brooks Koepka — two LIV Golf stars — who finished tied for second with 8-under 280 scores.
Jon Rahm will enter the 2024 edition of the Masters having finished inside the top 10 in each of his last five LIV Golf starts, including a T-4 at the recently concluded LIV Golf Miami at Trump National Doral Golf Course. In six Masters appearances, Rahm has gone 6/6 and also cracked the top 10 four times.
Apart from the 29-year-old Spaniard golf superstar, other LIV Golf players expected to compete in the 2024 Masters Tournament are Bryson DeChambeau, Sergio García, Tyrell Hatton, Dustin Johnson, Adrian Meron, Joaquín Niemann, Patrick Reed, Charl Schwartzel, Cameron Smith, Bubba Watson, Mickelson, and Koepka.
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