Jon Rahm Sheds Light on Lead-In Form Entering Open Championship

The 152nd Open Championship kicks off on Thursday at Royal Troon in Scotland, serving as the final opportunity for LIV Golf's Jon Rahm to make an impact in a major championship this year.

Since joining the Saudi-backed Tour in December 2023 , Rahm, winner of the 2021 U.S. Open and the Masters 2023, has racked up nine top-10s in 11 LIV Golf events. His lone finish outside the top 10 came when he was forced to withdraw from LIV Houston in June due to a foot injury.

But while Rahm has consistently been part of the mix, he's yet to pick up his first LIV Golf victory and oddly hasn't been able to close tournaments out down the stretch, something he did effortlessly countless times while playing for the PGA Tour.

Perhaps even worse than 'Rahmbo' not being able to close the job is how poorly he's fared in major championships since jumping ship. Not only did Rahm barely make the cut while defending as Masters champion, but he also missed the cut at the PGA Championship at Valhalla before being forced to withdraw from the U.S. Open at Pinehurst. After thriving in majors for years, the 29-year-old Spaniard has been a ghost in 2024 but is confident he's on the right track leading into this week.

"This year the first half hasn't been my best, but I would say it started in Houston where I started feeling that comfort with the swing again," Rahm said on Tuesday ahead of The Open. "Nashville and last week, I felt closer to getting to a higher level of golf where there [aren't] as many thoughts on my process. Maybe I'm playing more freely and seeing the ball flight I want more often."

"There's always things you can learn from it... Perhaps I had too many thoughts on my swing, where I wasn't just letting it go and having flow on the golf course the way I would have liked to flow, [that's] probably why I didn't perform the way I would have liked to perform."

Major Recap

Jon Rahm entered the Masters at Augusta National this year with five consecutive top-eight finishes for LIV Golf, trending in the proper direction to successfully defend his title. Only Rahm couldn't get anything going through the opening 36 holes, falling way behind on the leaderboard and never recouping his deficit. After dropping more than three strokes to the field on Sunday, Rahm crumbled to finish tied for 45th.

"Friday at Augusta, when you're not feeling your best and you're playing an absolute hurricane of a day with firm greens, I was just trying to survive and hoping to make the cut."

Leading into Valhalla, Rahm amassed another pair of top-10s for LIV Golf and hoped to avenge his lackluster performance at the season's first major. However, that plan didn't go to fruition either, as the two-time major champion fired a second-round 72 to fall short of the weekend by one stroke.

"Valhalla was almost the realization that I needed to make a change, where I was making good swings, and just the ball wasn't doing what I expected it to do. That's why I believe that might have been the last tournament I had my old driver shaft, and then I changed it after that, and I've been more comfortable ever since.

"I think that was a big change, right? Being able to swing at the driver more freely and without having to think about technique so much I think has been quite nice."

After some vital realizations, Rahm looked forward to returning to the U.S. Open, a tournament that has always treated him well throughout his career. Except this time, Rahm was plagued by a foot injury he suffered the week before the tournament, which ultimately forced him to withdraw from the season's third major championship.

"I don't want to get too graphic for people that don't like it, but [the podiatrist] cut part of the callus out, and the second he put a little pressure... you could still see some [infection] wanting to come out," Rahm explained in his presser. "He's like, all right, Jon, we have to do it. There's an abscess piece in there, and we have to see how much and how deep.

"Basically, he numbed my foot and grabbed the swabs... stuck the cotton part a little bit in, so it was deeper, turned it around, and just jammed it in my foot. When I saw that go in, I said, okay, I'm not playing The Open. Took all the infection out. Took another sample to see if I was taking the right antibiotics, and that's when we made the decision."

Can Jon Rahm Rebound at Royal Troon?

Similar to his form entering Valhalla, Jon Rahm heads into Royal Troon coming off a T3 at LIV Nashville and a T10 at LIV Andalucia last week. While his approach numbers were horrendous leading up to the PGA Championship, Rahm has seemingly found something with his irons in his past two appearances, gaining over 1.5 strokes to the field in both events. The short game has also still been reliable for him, as he's gained strokes in that category in six straight starts.

"Yeah, I'm getting much closer to what it might have been early last year."

The Open is one of two majors that have eluded Rahm up to his point, however, he's had his share of close calls across the Atlantic over the years. Not only did he finish T2 at Royal Liverpool last year, but he was 3rd at Royal St. George's in 2021 and T11 at Royal Portrush in 2019.

Rahm kicks off his opening round at Royal Troon at 3:36 AM CT, where he'll play alongside European Ryder Cup teammates Tommy Fleetwood and Robert MacIntyre.

Related: The Open Championship 2024: Course & Field Preview, Key Stats, + Odds

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