Eddie Pepperell says Jon Rahm’s decision has massively impacted his chances of winning more majors

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Eddie Pepperell has suggested that Jon Rahm may rue his decision to join LIV Golf after his performance at The Open Championship last week.

There is no question that Jon Rahm saved the best for last when it came to his performances in the majors in 2024, with the Spaniard securing a spot in the top 10 after an impressive final round at Royal Troon.

Of course, it has been a significant 12 months for Rahm, with the 29-year-old becoming one of LIV Golf’s biggest ever signings when he made the jump shortly after the Ryder Cup. LIV would have hoped that Rahm would prove to be the needle-mover. Unfortunately, that does not appear to have been the case.

Rahm was nowhere near being in contention as he defended his Masters title, while he ended up missing the cut at the PGA Championship. Injury prevented him from competing at the US Open.

Jon Rahm may rue decision to join LIV Golf

There was a moment early on Sunday where Rahm appeared to be making a charge, with three birdies in his first three holes. And when you consider how Sam Burns and Thriston Lawrence had flown up the leaderboard on Saturday, there was always a chance that the clubhouse leader on Sunday would be in a fantastic position if the conditions changed.

Ultimately, Rahm had to settle for a top 10 finish, which perhaps sets the stage for a much better 2025. However, speaking to The Chipping Forecast, Eddie Pepperell believes that going to LIV is harming Rahm’s chances of winning majors during the peak of his career.

“To touch on your point regarding Jon Rahm, when you talk about Xander Schauffele’s round today, a flurry of birdies wins him the golf tournament, if you zoom out and look at a career, a 20-year career, it’s a flurry of years where you pick up your majors, that’s what Padraig was saying,” he said.

“So back to Jon Rahm, the issue I have with his decision to go to LIV is I think he has massively impacted that spell in his career. Now I could be wrong, Jon could win majors into his 30s, but the history does suggest, as Padraig rightly points out, that actually players tend to win the bulk of their majors over a four or five year period, and I think Jon has massively impacted his chances of doing that, and frankly, he’s just not competing regularly enough against Xander and Rory and Scottie Scheffler for him, in my opinion, to be sharp enough to really cut his teeth at the sharp end of these golf tournaments now.”

Mixed results for LIV’s stars in 2024

Playing on LIV has certainly helped someone like Bryson DeChambeau, who was extremely impressive in the first three majors of the year – winning the US Open.

Meanwhile, there are players such as Joaquin Niemann who look to have incredibly bright futures ahead, and will almost know nothing different from their LIV schedules in the years to come.

But Rahm was arguably the best player in the world when he made the jump, particularly after his performance at the Ryder Cup. He has had injury issues this year, and he will unquestionably return to form at some stage.

But clearly, Pepperell is not convinced that Rahm will realise his full potential now he plays on LIV.