Jon Rahm has finished in the top 10 of every LIV Golf event since he joined in 2024, but called himself a “realist” in acknowledging that it’s due to the circuit’s smaller fields.
After winning twice in 13 events in 2024, the Spaniard has racked up eight more top-10s this year. However, that is without a victory and his highest finish was a tie for second in the season opener in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.
LIV’s three-day events feature 13 four-player teams and two wild cards competing in daily shotgun starts, so Rahm only needs to be better than 44 players to card a top-10 result.
“I would happily trade a bunch of them for more wins, that’s for sure, but I keep putting myself in good position,” Rahm said on Tuesday ahead of this week’s U.S. Open at Oakmont Country Club outside Pittsburgh. “Listen, I’m a realist in this case. I’ve been playing really good golf, yes, but I’d be lying if I said that it wasn’t easier to have top 10s with a smaller field.
“That’s just the truth, right? Had I been playing full-field events, would I have (been) top 10 every single week? No. But I’ve been playing good enough to say that I would most likely have been inside the top 30 every single time and maybe even top 25, which for 21 straight tournaments I’d say that’s pretty good. I still would have had a lot of top 10s, that’s for sure.
“I think winning is equally as hard, but you can take advantage of a smaller field to finish higher. As much as I want to give it credit personally for having that many top 10s, I wouldn’t always give it as the full amount just knowing that it’s a smaller field.”
Rahm’s other top-10 finish this year was the most impressive to date — a T8 at last month’s PGA Championship. That came on the heels of a T14 at the Masters. He also finished T7 at last year’s Open Championship, so Rahm continues to post quality results when up against the most elite fields in the world.
This week he returns to Oakmont, where he finished 23rd in 2016, 11 strokes behind winner and current LIV player Dustin Johnson. Rahm won his lone U.S. Open title to date five years later at Torrey Pines, and said he is embracing the “extreme challenge” of tackling the notoriously difficult Oakmont.
“It never ceases to amaze, in the sense of the history, the old-school feel of the clubhouse,” said Rahm, 30. “Even when you just stand on the putting green, seeing the whole property, you know you’re somewhere special. It’s quite iconic. It’s one of those things that makes it a great venue and a great championship.
“I think you embrace it. You know how great it is. Once you start the tournament, all of those things kind of go away. It’s business at that point. It’s time to post a score.”
–Field Level Media
