sport news Jon Rahm, Sergio Garcia and Tyrrell Hatton look likely to be LIV Golf's main ... trends now
Before a single shot had been played at LIV Golf Miami last week, Jon Rahm insisted he was 'confident' that either himself or one of his new colleagues could win the Masters.
After play had concluded on Sunday night, the reigning champion of Augusta National then admitted it would be a 'great story' if a LIV rebel could win on golf's grandest stage.
The Saudi-backed circuit may have acquired some of the world's best players during its expensive recruitment drive since 2022 but none of them have won a major title while playing under the LIV umbrella.
Greg Norman, LIV's CEO, made it clear 12 months ago that there would be huge celebrations on Augusta's 18th green if one of his charges could get it done.
Brooks Koepka went closest, Patrick Reed and Phil Mickelson took their best shot but Rahm ultimately prevailed. Now with the Spaniard among their ranks, LIV brings a menacing group to this year's first major championship.
Sergio Garcia finished top of the leaderboard at LIV Golf Miami but lost in a two-hole playoff
Tyrrell Hatton and Jon Rahm helped Legion XIII win the team event a week before the Masters
The threat they pose was clear to see after the fifth round of LIV's season concluded on Sunday night. Of the 13 players heading north from Miami to Augusta, eight finished under-par on the treacherous Blue Monster course at Trump Doral National.
Perhaps surprisingly, Sergio Garcia was the pick of the lot. He finished on 11-under for the tournament but had to settle for second place after a nerve-shredding two-hole playoff with South African Dean Burmester.
The Spaniard, who won the Green Jacket in 2017, was a picture of consistency all week. He dropped just four shots over the course of three rounds and nailed a long putt on the penultimate hole of the tournament to keep himself in contention.
Rahm heads to Augusta National without having won in a year, at least as an individual, after another weekend where he was solid but not good enough to win.
His Legion XIII team, which also includes Tyrrell Hatton, won for the second time in five LIV events this year but Rahm never looked like having a chance of winning the individual prize.
Both Rahm and Hatton finished three shots off the top two - costly bogeys ruining their chances.
There's always a sense Rahm can go up a gear when he wants to though and he'll need to be at his best to have any chance of competing with former PGA Tour nemesis Scottie Scheffler next week.
Rahm is the defending Masters champion and will be among the contenders again this year
Hatton had a chance of winning the individual event but two late bogeys eventually cost him
Asked whether his move to LIV has added an extra dimension to his battle with the current world No. 1 and Rory McIlroy at Augusta, Rahm said: ‘The Masters is the Masters.
'I don’t think there’s any difference whether you play PGA Tour, LIV, European Tour or Sunshine Tour. A major is a major.
'You could have asked me the same question last year with some of the LIV players. I wouldn’t say there’s anything added to it.'
Perhaps the man taking most confidence into the Masters is Hatton, who briefly looked like he could win here only for two dropped shots towards the end of his round to prove decisive.
As always with the tempestuous Englishman, Hatton's greatest opponent is often himself. If he can control his emotions then that will only put him in a greater position to prosper.
If you are one for omens, then a remarkable stat shows why this could be Hatton's moment. In the past 20 years, the average Masters winner has been 32-years-old, ranked 17th in the world and had eight previous starts at Augusta.
Hatton
