Rex Hoggard picks two-time major winner as the most disappointing player in golf for 2024

Add as preferred source on Google

As 2024 draws to a close, the golfing world will take a look back at the biggest winners and losers of the past 12 months.

It’s clear which players have enjoyed success since the beginning of the year. Scottie Scheffler’s eight wins earned him over $60 million in prize money. Xander Schauffele, of course, is another big winner. The American’s two majors mean he’s well on his way to completing the career grand slam before he calls time on his playing days.

Bryson DeChambeau‘s US Open triumph and social media explosion will see the LIV Golf star look back at 2024 fondly.

There are, however, players who will have wanted more from the past 12 months.

Rex Hoggard names 2024’s biggest disappointment

DeChambeau’s LIV Golf colleague Jon Rahm enjoyed a stunning debut season with the PIF-backed venture, winning the Individual Championship crown in Chicago.

Yet, Golf Channel pundit Rex Hoggard is still underwhelmed by the Spaniard’s achievements, particularly in the majors.

“Biggest disappointment at this one is tough because, in my mind, it probably has to be Jon Rahm,” Hoggard explained in his latest podcast.

“I know Data Golf will tell me that he is still one of the top five or top three players on the plane, and certainly the talent is there. Don’t get me wrong, Jon. Please don’t come at me with this one. I know you are still a top-three or five player.

“But the bed you made for yourself, going to LIV Golf, means you only have four times a year to prove your worth; this year, it was five times with the Olympics. I would go back to the Olympics because I had a colleague of mine pointed something out, which is that going into that final round in Paris, when he was pretty much a lock to win the gold med, all that was going to be a pivotal round for him because it was going to be the last time most golf fans were going to see him, that was going to be the lasting memory for Jon Rahm in 2024 and he struggled mightily. By and large, in the major championships, he was not Jon Rahm.”

Hoggard added: “He played well on occasions, but certainly, he did not deliver like we have come to expect from Jon Rahm in the major championships, which is the bar he has set for himself, like it or not. So my biggest disappointment is going to be Jon Rahm, not to say that he can’t turn it around in 2025, and I am not even going down the road that LIV Golf is not best for him as a player or motivating him the way he likes to be motivated. I am talking about him performing more when you want it to the most. That’s the major championships, that was the Olympics, that will be the Ryder Cup next year. I think next year he will turn it around, but this year was a disappointment.”

Rahm finished T45 at The Masters after enduring a tough four days at Augusta National. The Spaniard then missed the cut at the PGA Championship before pulling out of the US Open.

However, the LIV golf star performed well at the Open Championship, finishing on one under and in a tie for seventh.

Ryan Lavner names his biggest disappointment of 2024

Hoggard’s Golf Channel colleague Ryan Lavner also weighed in on the biggest disappointment debate and named three players who had left him underwhelmed.

“I have got three guys for the biggest disappointment in 2024. Jordan Spieth, the hand/wrist surgery after what had been a pretty auspicious start to 2024 was a disappointment,” Hoggard said.

“Viktor Hovland, the reigning FedEx Cup champion, backs it up next year with just two top 10s and zero wins. In the summertime, he reached a point where he did not want to compete. He considered withdrawing from the PGA Tour ahead of time because he thought he had no chance to win.

“And I would go with a different LIV player as one of my biggest disappointments with Brooks Koepka. Yes, he won twice on LIV, but he was outside the top 25 now in five consecutive majors. He is going to be turning 35 next year, you wonder if the window of opportunity for Brooks at least in the big events is starting to close just a little bit.”

Although the quartet may have underwhelmed in 2024, it wouldn’t be surprising to see Rahm, Hovland, Spieth, or Koepka win a major in the new year.