Golf Channel presenter Eamon Lynch has admitted that the storyline he is most intrigued by heading to The Open Championship concerns one LIV Golf star and how they will fare at Royal Troon.
The final major of the year is quickly emerging on the horizon, with the world’s best set to travel to South Ayrshire for The Open Championship – and there is no shortage of subplots.
Obviously, many will be expecting Scottie Scheffler to add to his six wins for the season, with the world number one also clinching the first major of the year back at The Masters.
But there will be plenty of attention on Bryson DeChambeau who triumphed at the end of one of the greatest days of major championship golf you will ever see at the US Open. And it is probably fair to say that Xander Schauffele has almost become a forgotten man as he could also become a two-time major winner this year.
DeChambeau will be leading the LIV charge, but it is another name from the breakaway tour Eamon Lynch is fascinated to see, with the presenter telling Golf Today that Jon Rahm has a massive point to prove.
Presenter fascinated to see how Jon Rahm performs at The Open Championship
“To me, the biggest story is Jon Rahm. And I know he withdrew from Pinehurst with a foot injury earlier that week, but he’s been a competitive irrelevance in the major championships so far this year – a guy who won The Masters last year and contended in two other major championships and was such a storyline every time he went to a major championship,” he said.
“And the game just hasn’t been there, perhaps it’s a coincidence that it’s happened after he went to LIV Golf. Everyone has slump years and maybe this is just his, but to me, it’s a storyline, a guy who finished tied second at The Open last year going back there this year having performed pretty miserably by his standards in major championships this year, to me that’s almost the storyline I’m most curious about: what is Jon Rahm going to do at Troon?”
A slightly nasty surprise for LIV this season
Many expected Rahm’s departure for LIV to be a massive moment in golf’s civil war, with the Spaniard arguably the best player on the planet at the moment he decided to leave the PGA Tour.
However, Rahm has been unable to take that form onto LIV, with no individual wins since the switch. And, as Lynch suggests, he has not yet been a factor in the majors this season.
If anyone has moved the needle in LIV’s favour, it is DeChambeau, with fans clearly desperate to see him a lot more than they currently do.
Rahm definitely has the game to get back to the top of the game, showing more than a few glimpses of his quality at LIV Golf Nashville last time out – but it is alarming how little expectation there seems to be for Rahm heading to Royal Troon.
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