Rahm dismissive of accusations that LIV format is to blame for his slump

It’s fair to say that Jon Rahm hasn’t exactly lit it up – not with his play anyway – since making the move to LIV back in December, but the two-time major winning Spaniard refutes any suggestion that LIV’s format is responsible for his lack of a competitive edge at the majors this year.

Speaking to Spanish press ahead of  LIV Golf Andalucia tees off on Friday, he dismissed the notion that 54-hole tournaments were the cause.

“No,” he responded immediately when posed that LIV’s 54-hole events weren’t as competitive as those on the DP World and PGA Tours.

“It’s not easy to win golf tournaments. I’ve been close. I just haven’t gotten it done.”

Despite not winning, he’s been a permanent feature in the top-10 at the end of each event with the exception of LIV Houston where he was forced to withdraw injured and then was unable to tee it up at the US Open a week later.

As a result, he’s willing to give it a six or seven out of 10 for the year so far.

“There’s been weeks where I feel like I scored a lot better than I felt, and there’s been a couple weeks where it could have been better,” Rahm explained. “Haven’t won yet so that would deduct quite a bit from it.

“I would say maybe 6 to a 7 out of 10 if I had to say. But the year is not over. Still a lot to play for.

“It would not be unheard of to see a player finish strong and change that to maybe a 9 out of 10. So far just because I haven’t won, I can’t give it more than a 7.”

He gets his first opportunity to tee it up on Spanish soil as a LIV player at Valderrama this week, and he credits the event as being one of the contributory factors in him making the tough decision to jump ship last year.

“One of the very exciting things about joining LIV was coming here and playing in front of a Spanish crowd, especially on a level of event and level of competition that I had not really yet enjoyed.

“I’ve been able to play events in Spain, but you didn’t have a world-class stage. It wasn’t the same level of accomplishments that we have in LIV Golf.

“To come back and be a part of this is quite emotional. If there was ever a place to get my first win, anything like that this would be the perfect week.”