When Jon Rahm finished second at the PGA Championship back in May, it appeared to be an indication that the Spaniard was finally ready to take his LIV Golf form into the four biggest events of the year.
Scottie Scheffler has won three majors since Jon Rahm won his most recent, while Rory McIlroy, Xander Schauffele, and Wyndham Clark have all won two each over the same period.
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Of course, so much goes into winning a major. So the fact that Rahm has not won any of the last 15 is not particularly alarming by itself.
But as the dust settles on the 2026 major championship season, Rahm arguably has reason for significant concern.
Jon Rahm reminded everyone of his quality at the PGA Championship
Clearly, the high point came at Aronimink, with Rahm one of the players who finished in a tie for second. He was three shots adrift of Aaron Rai in Philadelphia.
It was Rahm’s first top five finish in a major since The Open Championship back in 2023.
Unfortunately, he was unable to back that up at either the US Open or at Royal Birkdale. A 78 on Friday at Shinnecock Hills saw Rahm fall to six over par and miss the cut by two shots.
Rahm was inside the top 10 at the halfway stage in Southport this past week. However, a poor weekend saw him finish in a tie for 46th.
Rahm has had seasons without a top 10 in the majors. While his decision to join LIV Golf has been widely criticised, it was actually the 2022 campaign which last saw Rahm fail to register a single top 10 in the majors.
But this year saw his worst results in both the US Open and The Open Championship since 2018, while his tied for 38th finish at The Masters was his second worst result at Augusta National.
And not since 2017 has Rahm played in all four majors in one year and failed to register more than one top 30 finish.
A real missed opportunity for Jon Rahm as Scottie Scheffler endures a frustrating 2026
At his best, Rahm arguably joins Scottie Scheffler and Rory McIlroy as one of the three best male players in the world right now. Whatever you think of LIV Golf, his consistency in the league has been phenomenal.
So he should be judged by a different standard to the large majority of world-class players.
In a year when Scheffler was nowhere near his best, Rahm was unable to capitalise. The world number one, meanwhile, still finished in the top five three times.
But rather than Rahm make the most of the opportunity, it was the likes of Aaron Rai and Ryan Fox who were able to secure major wins.
Meanwhile, Wyndham Clark became the latest player to join Rahm as a two-time major champion.
When Rahm heads down Magnolia Lane next April, it will essentially be four years since his most recent major victory.
He may have struggled even more had he stayed with the PGA Tour. We will never know.
But Rahm’s second place finish at the PGA Championship has arguably allowed another incredibly poor major championship campaign to sneak under the radar.
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