The collateral harm for Jon Rahm following his signing with LIV Golf is beginning to change into obvious. Each on the course, the place he has had two lackluster performances on this yr’s majors, and on this planet rankings, the place the Barrika native faces a free fall by taking part in within the Saudi tremendous league, a company not acknowledged by the Official World Golf Rating (OWGR).
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After lacking the reduce ultimately week’s PGA Championship, Rahm awakened this Monday within the seventh spot on this planet rankings, having dropped two positions within the newest event. It is the primary time that the Spaniard is just not among the many prime six within the rating since August 11, 2019, 249 weeks or 1,744 days later, nonetheless you need to see it.
Jon Rahm, outcomes
In truth, since September 29 of that yr, Jon has at all times been within the prime 5 worldwide aside from eight weeks in 2022, when he went via a small stoop in outcomes, particularly in majors, the tournaments that OWGR rewards probably the most.
Rahm additionally held the highest spot within the world rating on six completely different events, totaling 52 weeks on the prime of the rating, making him the ninth participant in historical past to spend probably the most time as primary. Jon is 9 weeks away, by the way in which, from equaling the document of his idol Severiano Ballesteros, though returning to the highest will probably be unattainable for the Biscayan so long as LIV Golf is just not acknowledged by the group in command of the world rating.
The battle for the Saudi tremendous league to have its tournaments depend for official factors within the OWGR is misplaced, as LIV determined to withdraw its utility just a few months in the past after they noticed it wasn’t going wherever. The format of three rounds, no reduce, by groups, and lots of different variants, is one thing that does not persuade the Official World Golf Rating, and Rahm is among the many members of LIV who’re falling on this planet rating.
His comfort is that his presence in majors, which he has at all times secured via this rating, is assured within the close to future (he can play Augusta for all times, the US Open till 2031, and the PGA and the British till 2028) attributable to his current successes, and logic dictates that when these exemptions expire, there could have been an settlement between the PGA Tour and PIF to resolve the dilemma dealing with golf.
Rahm, who began the season because the third on this planet rating, was surpassed this previous weekend by two of his Ryder Cup teammates: Norwegian Viktor Hovland, fifth, and Swedish Ludvig Aberg, sixth regardless of his precocity. Xander Schauffele, who lifted his first main at Valhalla, jumped to the second spot within the OWGR, albeit removed from primary, occupied by Scottie Scheffler who will not relinquish the highest spot for a very long time.
Rory McIlroy, overtaken by Schauffele, dropped to 3rd place. After Rahm, you must go all the way down to quantity 18 to seek out one other LIV participant, Tyrrell Hatton, who, like Jon, joined the Saudi circuit for this 2024, so his drop is just not very pronounced but.
Additional down, solely seven extra LIV gamers seem within the prime 100: Bryson DeChambeau (thirty fifth), Brooks Koepka (thirty ninth), Cameron Smith (66th), Adrian Meronk (69th), Joaquín Niemann (88th), Lucas Herbert (91st), and Patrick Reed (92nd).
Most of them, distant from a place that resembles actuality, maintain on to their standing among the many finest due to their performances in majors or the factors they accumulate of their participations within the Asian Tour, a acknowledged circuit by which they’ll compete.
As for the three-way battle to be the second Spanish participant to compete within the Olympic Video games, there have been no modifications this week. David Puig, from LIV, stays in pole place to accompany Rahm in Paris regardless of dropping three spots and dropping to quantity 112 worldwide.
The Barcelona native, who missed the primary reduce of his skilled profession at this PGA Championship, is intently adopted by one other Spaniard who additionally didn’t make it to the weekend in Valhalla, Adrián Otaegui (one hundred and fifteenth), and by Jorge Campillo (116th) who was not current on the second main of the yr. Amongst these three golfers would be the second Spanish consultant at Le Golf Nationwide from August 1 to 4.
