Ahed of last year’s Masters, one of the biggest discussion points revolved around the defending champion and how he had made an Earth-shattering move just a few months before.
Jon Rahm went to LIV Golf, a decision he felt was best for himself and his family. He has had a successful run on the Saudi-backed circuit, finishing in the top 10 in every LIV Golf event he has played. But a significant criticism for LIV is that its tournaments do not receive Official World Golf Ranking (OWGR) points; therefore, LIV players have a more difficult time making it into major championship fields.
And yet, that does not apply to Rahm. His victory at Augusta National in 2023 secured him a spot in The Masters for life. He also has exemptions into the four majors for quite some time — joining LIV did not affect Rahm’s ability to play in the four biggest tournaments of the year, unlike many others. But it did affect how often he competes against World No. 1 Scottie Scheffler and other top players who decided to remain on the PGA Tour.
Scheffler talked about Rahm and this reality on Wednesday.
“One of the great joyous of my career is going up against Jon. He’s a tremendous player, tremendous talent. I was definitely surprised to see him leave last year and I for sure miss playing against him,” Scheffler said.
“We had some great battles over the years. We had some great battles in the Ryder Cup. I think we’ve halved most of our matches in the Ryder Cup, Jon and I have. I think we might be dead even, I’m not sure exactly, but I feel like we’ve played five or six times. Maybe we’ve played five times and halved three of them, and I’ve won one and he’s won one. We’ve played a lot in the last two Ryder Cups, and he’s a great guy to compete against. So I definitely miss playing against him. I wish he was — I wish he got to do it more often, but definitely will soak in all the opportunities that I get to compete against him going forward.”
One of those opportunities will be this year’s Masters, where Scheffler will arrive as the defending champion.
Rahm will be there, too, along with 10 other LIV players.
Yet the sport remains divided, despite the tour meeting with the Saudi Public Investment Fund (PIF), LIV’s beneficiary, and the President of the United States to try and resolve this schism.
That led Scheffler to drop some hard truths about LIV Golf on Wednesday that golf fans can relate to during this exhaustive period within the sport’s history.
“I definitely miss the competition,” Scheffler said.
“I miss — they got some pretty good players on their tour. I still think the PGA Tour has by far the best players in the world. The depth of our fields and the competition that we have is still hands down the best competition that there is in the game of golf. That’s why I’m still playing on the Tour. I love the competition. I wish some of those guys had stayed, but at the end of the day, they made their choice. They knew the consequences of that decision, and I’m not here to change their minds. I hold no ill will toward any of those guys that left. They did what they wanted to do, and you know, I can’t control their life. I’m not going to sit here and say they should have done something differently. They made their choice.
“If we want to figure out why the game of golf is not back together, go ask those guys. Go to wherever they are playing this week and figure out when the game is going to come back together. We’ll see.”
Who knows how things will play out in the weeks and months to come. But at least the best of the best will reunite at Augusta National, the best course in the world for the greatest tournament in the world. Golf fans can rejoice about that, at least.
Jack Milko is a golf staff writer for SB Nation’s Playing Through. Follow him on X @jack_milko.
