One of the nice things being Jon Rahm is that your reputation precedes you.
You don’t need to provide your credentials to earn a tee time at the local club, or explain to the restaurant that you prefer a private table, or justify your desire to read your putts to your caddy. Are you Jon Rahm. Your resume speaks for itself.
As it turns out, that’s also why these few months are some of the strangest of Rahm’s career. After the collapse of LIV, Rahm immediately auditioning for the future of his professional careerand hoping that a series of strong performances in the middle of the fall international season can help accelerate his path back to the PGA Tour. And on Saturday night in Abu Dhabi, Rahm’s resume means a little less than his place in the 54-hole leaderboard: solo first.
First, the good news: Rahm can play on the DP World Tour as much as he likes. He settled his differences with the second-biggest men’s Tour over fines stemming from his decision to leave for LIV in 2023 – and that deal clears his way to play there.
Second, the bad news: Rahm can’t play on the PGA Tour…at least not yet. The Tour hasn’t figured out a strategy to handle the throngs of LIV players looking for a way back after the league’s dissolution, leaving that group in competitive limbo. In fact, according to a report from Gabby Herzig in The AthleticThe biggest men’s tour has not yet settled on an operational strategy yet – leaving open the possibility that the value of the next few months of the otherwise dormant golf offseason could be very important in the formation of public policy.
Enter: Jon Rahm. This week in Abu Dhabi, he returned to the field for the first time since his lawyers informed the world that he would no longer play on LIV, following in the footsteps of his fellow LIV pro Patrick Reed, who used the DP World Tour as a path back to the big tour. And what’s more? Rahm is playing well at Yas Links, enters Sunday’s final round with a one-shot lead at the top of a crowded leaderboard that includes Rory McIlroy, Tyrrell Hatton and Adam Scott.
A win on Sunday would give Rahm the rarest kind of golf treat: his first win outside of LIV since the 2023 Masters. It couldn’t come at a better time, either. If he wins Sunday in Abu Dhabi, Rahm will raise the temperature on the conversation surrounding his PGA Tour comeback.
While Rahm’s game in theory has no impact on the Tour’s eventual decision — which won’t be decided until a bankruptcy court decides what to do with LIV’s outstanding player contracts — there’s no question that a prolonged hot streak for the former No.
The Tour will consider many factors in a quick reinstatement for players like Rahm and Bryson DeChambeau, but one of them will be the financial implication of saying “No.” A string of back-to-back starts in which Rahm has arguably looked like one of the five best players in the world will go a long way to helping his argument that the Tour is about making more money. with him than without him. A win in an event against many of the best players in the world — like the opportunity Rahm will face Sunday morning — would help make the argument that the Tour’s competitive meritocracy and sense of stakes (two components of the future PGA Tour that commissioner Brian Rolapp has harped on) are better with Rahm in the field.
Of course, Rahm might not like the idea of ”auditioning” for the PGA Tour. In a past life – like the one he lived 11 months ago – Rahm was given a special exemption to return to the Tour with little penalty. But in this life, Rahm’s life has returned to the most basic form of golf pro: Earn your opportunities with your game every week.
On Sunday morning, Rahm could do very well with another round of great golf. His reputation tells us that a victory could be in our midst, but these days, the most important piece of Rahm’s reputation exists on the scorecard.