Jon Rahm is showing the most impressive form of the handful of the elite players who will almost certainly find their names on the iconic leaderboards at The Masters next month.
When Jon Rahm holed a birdie putt on the 15th hole of the final round of LIV Golf Hong Kong on Sunday, the Spaniard allowed himself to produce a fist pump.
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Positive signs already from Scottie Scheffler, Rory McIlroy AND Jon Rahm!
It was a sign that he knew that the tournament had been won. For the likes of Scottie Scheffler and Rory McIlroy, it was an indication that the 2023 Masters champion is very content with where his game is at heading to Augusta National.
Jon Rahm already well on his way to retaining his LIV Golf title
Obviously, it is incredibly difficult to know just how helpful LIV events are in preparing a player for the four biggest tournaments of the season. No LIV player has won a major since the 2024 US Open.
But Rahm appears to have taken his LIV consistency to another level at the start of 2026. Of course, the 31-year-old has finished outside the top 10 in just one start since his jump from the PGA Tour in December 2023.
However, he looks to be well on his way to having the individual title wrapped up midway through the campaign.
Rahm finished second in Riyadh and Adelaide. He should have won in Australia having started the final round five shots ahead of eventual winner Anthony Kim.
And he has now secured his first win since 2024 with his victory in Hong Kong. Rahm kept his rivals at arm’s length for the majority of the last round.
Given that he won the Green Jacket in 2023 – his fifth top 10 at The Masters – it looks inevitable that Rahm will be in the mix to win again in just a few weeks.
Scottie Scheffler and Rory McIlroy are not quite finding top form
You would have to go back to 2021 for the last time one of the three best players in the world – Rahm, Scottie Scheffler, and Rory McIlroy – did not win at The Masters.
Scheffler has won this year. It was ominous when he got across the line at The American Express in dominant fashion. But the past few weeks have not been overly impressive by the world number one’s incredible standards.
Scheffler has got off to a string of poor starts. He is now in danger of finishing outside the top 10 in back-to-back events on the PGA Tour for the first time in almost a year.
Rory McIlroy, meanwhile, withdrew from the Arnold Palmer Invitational ahead of the third round after hurting his back in the warm-up.
There is hope that McIlroy will play at The Players Championship next week. However, like Scheffler, the Northern Irishman is not quite firing on all cylinders just yet.
It is also going to take a miraculous recovery for the current Masters champion to defend his title at TPC Sawgrass.
Rahm has now put to bed talk about his run without a win. He is clearly trending in the right direction at the perfect time.
And crucially, he looks very happy on LIV. After having the opportunity to return to the PGA Tour, Rahm made a big statement with his decision to stay put.
It was easy for us, as major critics of LIV, to question whether his contract was just too difficult to get out of. The PGA Tour remains the number one stage, particularly when it comes to preparing for the majors.
However, Rahm appears to be passing every test put in front of him right now. After dealing with so much criticism for not winning in 2025, for not returning to the PGA Tour, for losing out in Adelaide, Rahm looks to be absolutely determined to silence his critics.
A second win at Augusta would certainly shut them all up.
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