Jon Rahm will return to the competition (this Wednesday, 4:15 p.m.) in a situation that he has not experienced for almost a decade. for the first time … He is no longer the best Spanish golfer in the world ranking. Until this week, he had enjoyed that distinction since August 2017, when at the age of 22 he overtook Sergio García after a third place in The Northern Trust of the PGA Tour that allowed him to be fifth in the table. Now it is David Puig (La Garriga, Barcelona, 24 years old) who has surpassed Rahm, with whom he shares a past at the University of Arizona. The Catalan, winner of the Australian Championship in November, has started the year in top form with a third place in the Dubai Invitational and a seventh in the Classic Desert in the same Emirati city.
137
position
which Rahm occupied in January 2017, the last time he was outside the top-100
Puig, also a member of LIV, has not stopped playing since the Saudi tour closed in August. The member of Fireballs has collected the points that are currently being denied to the groundbreaking super league and has climbed positions in an astonishing way to sneak into the top-100 (95th place) and aspire to play in the big four. In parallel, Rahm (97) has not stopped descending in the rankings since his million-dollar signing for LIV in December 2023.
Then he was ranked third in the world, but since that moment he has only fallen progressively, with few exceptions such as second place in the 2024 Spanish Open or the seven tournaments that allowed him to win in 2025, including the four majors. Despite not winning any title, he achieved an eighth place in the PGA and a seventh in the US Open. Now it is on the verge of leaving the top-100. He has not set foot on that ground since in that commendable 2017 he conquered Farmers Insurance and jumped from 137 to 46.
Without competing since October
The Biscayan rejected the finals of the European circuit and has experienced his longest preseason
This week Rahm returns to the competition. That October 12th on which he played a round of golf for the last time is long gone. It was in a Spanish Open in which he achieved a ninth position, creditable for many and insufficient for a winning gene like that of the Biscayan, who after being acclaimed by the Madrid public slipped that he would not attend the Dubai finals of the European circuit in November. He did not qualify but his participation in the Ryder won in September in New York earned him a ticket that he rejected. Later he also did not consider it appropriate to compete in the prestigious Classic Desert in January. Thus, Rahm set his sights on the start of LIV, which this Wednesday, starting at 4:15 p.m., raises the curtain in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, under the spotlight in a night session.
“He has trained more than ever”
“He has trained more than ever,” they assure this newspaper from those around the Basque athlete, who a few days ago visited the members of the University of Arizona team to which he belonged during his formative stage. After the holidays, Rahm has spent these months testing the new Callaway clubs and between San Diego and his residence in Scottsdale, Arizona. A few weeks ago he was in Florida at the official presentation of the LIV. There he met with his teammates, who remains intact with the objective of defending the group crown. They are the Englishman Tyrrell Hatton –also a Ryder winner–, the Northern Irishman Tom McKibbin –a rising value who is looking to make a big splash this year– and the American Caleb Surratt, another young man who promises great things.
LIV begins
The one from Barrika faces the first tournament of his third year in the Saudi league since Wednesday in Riyadh
Barrika’s, for his part, is the top favorite to win the championship ring, which would be his third in as many seasons in the LIV, to which he remains faithful despite the escapes of two top swords such as Brooks Koepka, who signed unprecedented conditions with the PGA Tour, and Patrick Reed, who will seek to return to the American circuit through the European one.
