8 months ago
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JON RAHM has revealed his return to The Masters was a frosty one, with one former colleague “not even looking” at him.
Rahm, 29, claimed the green jacket in 2023 but defected to LIV Golf, a Saudi Arabia-backed tour rival of the PGA, in a megabucks deal in December last year said to be worth £450million over four years.
Getty
GettyAnd the move seems to have fractured some relationships with old tour mates.
When asked about the welcome he was receiving in Augusta in his first time back since the controversial transfer, he admitted their were mixed reactions.
He asked whether he got a warm reception, he told Golf Channel Latin America: “Some did. I expected it.
“And then, there was someone else who I expected to be a little tougher… and one of them hugged me.
“I think that, among all the relationships I have, it has been everything that I expected. My friends are still my friends.
“And then someone, with whom I was very cordial and had a positive relationship, has not even looked at me.
“If someone changes their opinion of me, it is more their problem than mine. I am not worried.
“I knew it was going to happen. I didn’t know who.”
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Rahm finished with a score of nine-over-par to see him finish down in joint 45th – the Spaniard’s worst ever finish at the Augusta National.
He had been critical of the organisation before joining and revealed how he had contrasting reactions from Tiger Woods and Rory McIlroy, with the latter throwing his support behind him.
However, Rahm has continued to speak his mind and called on LIV bosses to change the tour from it’s 52-hole format to a more traditional 72-hole one.
This year the green jacket was claimed by Scottie Scheffler, who shot 11-under-par to claim the crown for the second time.
Inside Rahm's controversial LIV Golf defection
JON Rahm defected from the PGA Tour to Liv Golf in December 2023
Rahm’s move saw him land a megabucks contract reportedly worth £450million over the four years.
SunSport spoke to a negotiator of the deal, who said the process of getting the 29 year-old to sign on the dotted line was “very intense” and that he needed plenty of time to mull the numbers over with his family.
Yet once everything was presented to Rahm and his advisors, there was only going to be one answer.
As well as his somewhat frosty welcome to The Masters, Rahm has said he got differing reactions from Rory McIlroy and Tiger Woods, with McIlroy throwing his support for Rahm.
Rahm was critical of the Saudi-backed tour before joining, but has continued to speak his mind on it.
Before The Masters he called on the LIV tour to change it’s format to a more traditional 72-hole one, rather than the 52 holes the tour currently shoots.
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