It’s a Masters defense unlike any other.
Jon Rahm hosted the traditional champions dinner at Augusta on Tuesday night, with one photo emerging of the past winners smiling at the event.
Earlier Tuesday, Rahm held a press conference where he talked about winning the green jacket a year ago and also about his divisive decision to leave for LIV Golf.
Rahm seemed much more interested in discussing his dinner plans — which included a Basque-inspired menu with a main course of ribeye steak or Rodaballo al Pil-Pil (fish dish) — at the press conference than the ramifications of his $500 million LIV defection.
“Everybody I talked to seems very excited about the menu, which, if anything, has put a lot more pressure on me, even though I’m not cooking,” Rahm said. “So, I’m definitely a little nervous. It is quite daunting to think about the room you are going to be in and having to stand up and talk to that group of players. It’s basically all the living legends in the game, active and non-active … As wonderful as it is, to be a part of it is definitely nerve-wracking.”
Rahm, often gregarious and engaging with the media, was sometimes short with his answers when it came to LIV Golf.
“Rahm is clearly bothered by all the LIV stuff,” Kyle Porter of CBS Sports noted on X. “Deep sighs. Curt answers. Truly getting close to ‘I’ve made a huge mistake dot gif’ territory.”
Among the questions Rahm was peppered with, was if he thinks fans thought of him more as the reigning Masters champ or a LIV player this week.
“Both,” Rahm responded.
He was pressed for further comment based on what his week has been like so far.
“From what I experienced so far, as a Masters champion,” Rahm said.
Rahm’s defection in December shocked the sport and seemed to indicate to many that the PGA Tour and LIV would soon follow through with a merger after a framework of a deal had been agreed to in June.
However, details on progress are scarce even as PGA Tour commissioner Jay Monahan and members of the PGA Tour players board, including Tiger Woods, recently met with Yasir Al-Rumayyan.
Al-Rumayyan is the governor of PIF, which is the financial arm of the Saudi government that funds LIV.
“What I heard up there in the press conference is someone trying to convince himself that the decision he made to go to LIV is justified,” Golf Channel analyst Notah Begay III said Tuesday.
“It is certainly in his bank account. I don’t think he is going to be as prepared. You have to play against the best players you can possibly find to be as sharp as you could possibly be for one of the most demanding tasks that is asked of players at this level at this particular venue. I don’t think golf will ever be judged in the team format unless you are at the Ryder Cup or Presidents Cup. To try and convince yourself that you are getting something out of that is taking away from [what] this game is about, your individual strength and ability to perform under the hardest circumstances. We are going to find out very quickly if Jon Rahm is up to the task.”
Rahm, who blew by Brooks Koepka in the final round a year ago for a four-shot victory, tees off at 10:30 a.m. on Thursday morning with Matthew Fitzpatrick and Nick Dunlap.
