{"id":435999,"date":"2025-07-26T00:58:04","date_gmt":"2025-07-26T00:58:04","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/golf\/?p=435999"},"modified":"2025-07-26T00:58:04","modified_gmt":"2025-07-26T00:58:04","slug":"rahms-slow-start-at-liv-uk-pressure-mounts-on-former-champion","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/golf\/rahms-slow-start-at-liv-uk-pressure-mounts-on-former-champion\/","title":{"rendered":"Rahm\u2019s Slow Start at LIV UK: Pressure Mounts on Former Champion"},"content":{"rendered":"

Jon Rahm<\/a> entered this week\u2019s LIV Golf UK<\/a> tournament as one of the biggest names in the field and one of the favourites. The 2024 LIV Golf UK champion is under growing pressure after a poor start to the tournament\u2019s opening round on Friday.<\/p>\n

Rahm Struggles In LIV Golf UK First Round<\/h2>\n

Rahm\u2019s round started off steady with a string of pars but he found himself in trouble early when he bogeyed the 3rd hole. He made birdies on the 8th and 10th holes, but a double bogey on the 13th wiped out that progress. A late birdie on the 16th helped him finish at even par for the day in the first round at JCB Golf & Country Club, leaving him tied for 32nd on the leaderboard and well behind top names like Adri\u00e1n Meronk, Branden Grace, and Joaqu\u00edn Niemann, who all carded six-under-par 65s to share the lead.<\/p>\n

This slow start was unexpected for Rahm, who has been one of LIV\u2019s most consistent performers this season. He came into the tournament ranked second in the season-long standings, just behind Niemann. But with Niemann playing well again and sitting near the top of the leaderboard, Rahm now has work to do if he wants to stay in the title race.<\/p>\n

While Rahm\u2019s individual score was disappointing, his team, Legion XIII<\/a>, is still very much in the mix. Thanks to strong performances from his teammates, they finished the day tied for the team lead at 11-under. That offers some hope, but Rahm knows he must raise his level to help the team and improve his individual chances.<\/p>\n

Keep Reading: Legion XIII Backing Hatton: Support Grows After U.S. Open Heartbreak\u00a0<\/a><\/p>\n

Pressure Building on Rahm To Improve Performance<\/h2>\n

This week\u2019s event comes just days after The Open Championship, where Rahm also failed to make a big impact. He had entered the last major of the year with high hopes but finished outside the top 10. Now, with back-to-back underwhelming performances, questions are being asked about his form.<\/p>\n

\"\"
Jon Rahm and Sergio Garcia in action during the first round of LIV Golf Spain at Real Club Valderrama. Mandatory Credit: Jon Nazca\/Reuters via Imagn Images<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The pressure is growing on the Spaniard due to his current ranking and the form of Joaqu\u00edn Niemann, whom he\u2019s chasing. Niemann already has multiple LIV wins this year and is currently playing with confidence. If Rahm doesn\u2019t close the gap soon, the season-long race could slip out of reach.<\/p>\n

Jon Rahm won the LIV Golf UK event last year, earning his first individual LIV Golf title. That victory helped him catch Niemann in the race for the season-long championship. This year, Niemann entered the week with a 15-point lead over Rahm and now sits in a strong position to extend it. Rahm shot an even-par 71 in the first round and sits tied for 32nd. Bryson DeChambeau, captain of Crushers GC and third in the standings, opened with a 68 and sits tied for 11th.<\/p>\n

Main Photo Credit: \u00a9 Reuters via Imagn Images<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Jon Rahm entered this week\u2019s LIV Golf UK tournament as one of the biggest names in the field and one of the favourites. The 2024 LIV Golf UK champion is under growing pressure after a poor start to the tournament\u2019s opening round on Friday. Rahm Struggles In LIV Golf UK First Round Rahm\u2019s round started […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5425,"featured_media":436006,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_lmt_disableupdate":"no","_lmt_disable":"","sfio_featured_image":false,"sfio_embed_code":"","_ef_editorial_meta_date_first-draft-date":"","_ef_editorial_meta_paragraph_assignment":"","_ef_editorial_meta_checkbox_needs-photo":"","_ef_editorial_meta_number_word-count":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[15,200],"tags":[83],"class_list":["post-435999","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-golf","category-liv-golf","tag-the-open-championship"],"modified_by":"Ajayi Segun","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/golf\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/435999","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/golf\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/golf\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/golf\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/5425"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/golf\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=435999"}],"version-history":[{"count":6,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/golf\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/435999\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":436008,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/golf\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/435999\/revisions\/436008"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/golf\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/436006"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/golf\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=435999"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/golf\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=435999"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/golf\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=435999"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}