Jon Rahm will tee it up in his first PGA Tour event since leaving for LIV in December 2023 when he plays in the Genesis Scottish Open, co-sanctioned by the PGA and DP World Tours, and he’s happy to be back on links terrain at The Renaissance Club and would class a first victory on Scottish soil among his career highlights.
“It would be very, very special,” said the Spaniard who is a two-time winner of the Irish Open at links courses. “I’ve done very well in Ireland. Besides I think my first couple wins, I haven’t played as well as I would have like. A victory on Scottish soil would be fantastic. As a European, understanding where it came from, and links golf, a list of great champions in The Scottish Open would be something that would be really, really exciting.”
Having recently settled his dispute with the DP World Tour, it comes as little surprise that Rahm’s first start on the Wentworth-based circuit is in a National Open and he speaks fondly of the legacy that’s attached to such tournaments.
“It’s just the history of it is what makes them so special,” he said. “No secret why the Spanish Open special to me. When I was able to win The Irish Open and I lifted the trophy for the first time, I start seeing the names and it’s filled with all the legends of European golf. It’s something special to hopefully be regarded as one of them. Not many people say that and I hope I can get to that point.
“Like The Irish Open, The French Open, the German Open, the Spanish Open, The Scottish Open, all of them have pretty much the same list of champions and probably many more Opens that I’m missing. I think it’s what connects us to the past. Some of these tournaments have been going on for such a long time and I know The French Open at one point was the longest-running event in the amount of editions, I can’t even think of how many. It’s what makes them special, the connection of the past to the present.”
While his competitive return to both DP World and PGA Tour action was the main talking point, LIV Golf and the uncertainty surrounding its future naturally came up in the press conference and he was asked if the prospect of leading players such as himself investing in the league to keep it afloat had been bridged.
“I know Scott is doing a lot of work trying to find developers,” he responded. “And there’s many ways around that, as far as putting my money into it, they have not asked me to do that yet. So I don’t know if they will or not. It’s not something that they have asked me but there has been many different avenues to try to make it different, what we’ve had till now. They haven’t asked me to put my money in yet.”
When pressed further as to whether he would be willing if the request did come, he refused to rule out the possibility.
“Something I’ve learned in life, never say never,” he replied. “I’m not going to say absolutely no to anything that can happen in the future.”
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