Jon Rahm fires 65 after LIV collapse rumors, eyes PGA Tour return with Koepka-style deal

Jon Rahm speaks after shooting 65 in Abu Dhabi the day after LIV Golf claimed to be close to collapsing.

Rahm posted a hugely impressive opening round of 65 on day one of the Abu Dhabi Aldar Championship on Thursday.

His superb performance on Thursday in Abu Dhabi came the day after the news broke that LIV Golf is on the verge of collapsing.

The Spaniard had already declared that he will not be continuing with LIV Golf 2.0 before the news broke about the league’s problems on Wednesday.

Rahm will most likely have to play on the DP World Tour next year in order to return to the PGA Tour in 2028, unless he is offered a similar deal to the one that Brooks Koepka received in January.

Rahm is obviously keen to return to the PGA Tour, but his return will clearly not be a straightforward one.

No big names signed up for LIV Golf 2.0 and, with the league clearly now dead in the water, the superstars who plied their trade on the league will now have to focus their full attention on the DP World Tour, for the time being at least.

Rahm spoke to reporters after making seven birdies and 11 pars on day one at Yas Links.

He responded when asked how he feels about his performance on Thursday in Abu Dhabi.

“Yeah, obviously a very good score. I think the highlight today was my iron game. I was very good with the irons. I gave myself plenty of chances and obviously holed a few,” Rahm said.

“I would say, though, I got away with a couple of bad swings. Hit a bad tee shot on 3, and it ended up in the middle of the fairway. A bad tee shot on 11, and being able to find that and have a birdie putt. So a few bad swings that I got away with. But overall, yeah, I played really nice today.

“I think sometimes when your expectation is a little lower than usual, where I just kept thinking, listen, if we have a bad day, we have a bad day.

“But I just kind of took it one shot at a time, made a couple beautiful swings early on, great second shot on 2, and that kind of got things going. That second shot on 3 as well, making basically three iron swings — the 4-iron on 1, the 5-iron on 2, and then 8-iron on 3 — gave me some good confidence.”

Rahm was asked how he managed to shoot such a low score on a golf course that he is completely unfamiliar with.

“I think sometimes it can be a blessing, just not knowing where some of the trouble may be, right? You just kind of focus on what you can see,” the Spaniard replied.

Patrick Reed has shared his opinion on whether Jon Rahm should be allowed to return to the PGA Tour immediately after leaving LIV Golf.

The American believes that players who earn the right to compete should be able to play, although he admitted that the final decision regarding the Spaniard will be made by PGA Tour officials.

Rahm recently confirmed that he will not be joining LIV Golf’s new project for 2027.

The two-time major champion spent three seasons with the Saudi-backed league, but decided to leave after becoming unhappy with the proposed changes.

The 31-year-old is now planning to compete on the DP World Tour next season.

However, he has not completely ruled out returning to the PGA Tour, where he enjoyed a lot of success before leaving in December 2023.

Reed knows quite well what Rahm is going through, having also decided to leave LIV Golf earlier this year.

The former Masters champion has already secured his PGA Tour status for 2027 after producing several good results on the DP World Tour.

Speaking ahead of the Abu Dhabi Championship, the 36-year-old American was asked whether he would have a problem if Rahm received permission to return without serving a one-year suspension.

“That’s a hard question. I definitely feel like it’s something that they are going to be looking into. How they do it is up to them. But I’ve always been a firm believer that if you’ve earned the right to play, and you qualify, you can play anywhere,” Reed said.

The American also admitted that he has always enjoyed competing alongside Rahm, who won the 2021 US Open and the 2023 Masters.

“Obviously with Jon’s resumé and everything, it’s one of those that obviously his team is going to be talking about the PGA Tour. I’ve always enjoyed playing with Jon. I’ve always been a firm believer that if you earned the right to play somewhere, you can go and play. We’ll just have to wait and see,” Reed added.