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Two years ago, Jon Rahm became a Masters champion and many considered him the number one competitor to Scottie Scheffler for title of best golfer in the world. Then Rahm went and left the PGA Tour for the supposedly greener pastures of LIV Golf. Rahm had just one top-10 in major championships and claimed he was unfairly judged. But now, Rahm is yet again well adrift at the Masters, 10 shots back of leader Justin Rose entering the weekend, and he’s changed his tune a bit about his game.
“Not good,” Rahm said of his game after Friday’s second round. “I mean, I grinded and got a lot of good up-and-downs to be able to break par and hopefully make the cut. But just a lot of bad swings and then a lot of mistakes when I was in a good position.
“I must say, yesterday and today, there was quite a few iron swings that I thought were good that just — whether we got the wind wrong or just other things that happen at Augusta that didn’t end up either on the green or close enough for it to be a birdie chance, and then after that, I just feel like I hit a lot of good putts and nothing went in.”
Jon Rahm Laying Another Egg In The Masters Brings Back Reports Of LIV Regrets
Rahm tried to keep a positive spin on things entering the weekend, but the stark reality of another major where he didn’t compete for the victory was hard to ignore.
“Just little things like that that at major championships can set you back quite a bit. I have a pretty big mountain to climb to have a chance tomorrow or to have a chance come Sunday.”
Of course, Rahm’s second-round 71 was a singificant improvement from an opening-round 75 that saw him nearly snap his driver in half. But the disappointing showing also comes amid several reports that he regrets moving to the Saudi-backed golf tour. Rahm denied those reports. But they won’t go away. And as long as he performs like this in major championships, they probably won’t any time soon.