Jon Rahm in pole position for $18 million bonus despite LIV Golf and PGA Tour 'regret'

Jon Rahm narrowly missed out on his second successive LIV Golf victory at the weekend, but he may still have the last laugh after claims he regrets joining the breakaway tour.

Rahm was the Saudi Arabia-backed league's headline signing of the offseason, turning his back on the PGA Tour and signing a deal worth in the region of $500 million. But ahead of the latest tournament at The Greenbrier in West Virginia, veteran golf journalist Jaime Diaz reported two-time major champion Rahm would reverse his decision if he could.

“I am 100 per cent positive that if Jon could give the money back to the Saudis and come back to the tour, he couldn’t write the check fast enough," Diaz claimed in Golf Digest. "Now there are only four times a year when he’s playing that anybody is remotely interested. He thought his stature in the game was secure no matter where he was playing, and it was a bad miscalculation.”

Rahm dismissed the claims and performed impressively on the course over the weekend, finishing in a tie atop the leaderboard with Brooks Koepka before losing on the first playoff hole after a par putt agonizingly lipped out.

The second-place finish was worth not only $2,250,000 in prize money but also 30 valuable points towards his total for Individual Championship – LIV's season-long order of merit. Those points were enough to overthrow longtime frontrunner Joaquin Niemann at the top of the standings ahead of the Individual Championship finale at Bolingbrook Golf Club in Illinois next month.

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The Spaniard leads the way with 195.17 points, 2.97 points clear of second-place Niemann, who finished in a tie for 15th. It means if Rahm finishes ahead of the Chilean at Bolingbrook, he will be LIV's champion in his first season as a member of the breakaway league.

Should Rahm hold onto his lead, he will take his on-course earnings for this season beyond the $30m mark. He has already banked $12.8M in prize money and the Individual Championship title will be worth a further $18m.

"There's a lot to take from that," Rahm said of his week at The Greenbrier. "It stings a little bit more than I would like it to. But there's still obviously a lot of good things to think about. But right now it hurts more than anything."

Rahm may have the lead in the championship race, but he is taking nothing for granted ahead of the finale and he is fully aware of the challenge the supremely consistent Niemann will pose.

"Beating Joaquin, I'm probably going to need to win," he said. "He's going to be up there. I'm going to need another good week, and hopefully get it done."